


Trying To Escape The Inevitable

by MissArsenicChaos



Category: South Park
Genre: Brief Cryle, Canon series events happened except for Mysterion episodes, Cult activity, F/M, High School, Kenny's immortality is different, M/M, One-sided Style, Slow Burn, Teenage Smoking, There won't be any more deaths other than the one mentioned on the first chapter and Kenny, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 15:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10027919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissArsenicChaos/pseuds/MissArsenicChaos
Summary: Years after a tragic death in the McCormick family, Kenny becomes Mysterion in order to find the truth about his immortality. He needs Kyle’s help to research the secret cult that might bring light to his origins, but involving him might be more dangerous than Kenny expected.





	1. The Mysterious Vigilante

**Author's Note:**

> For starters, I suck at summaries, sorry about that. I’ve been dying to write some K2 for while now, it’s a ship that in my opinion doesn’t have enough love. I haven’t written much in the past years, so I’m hella rusty. Hope that gets better as time goes by. Also, English is not my first language and this has no beta. Sorry for any mistakes.

The rumors of a mysterious caped vigilante who had single handedly brought down a group of bank robbers before the police arrived and wore underwear over his pants, were all over Park County High when Kyle arrived Monday morning. The police hadn’t confirmed the story and it hadn’t been covered by any mayor media channel, but there had been a handful of witness. They had shared their experience over social media and one had even posted a blurry picture of said vigilante.

Kyle had his doubts about the story as Stan showed him the blurry picture on his phone. People in South Park were known for exaggerating just about everything.

“And you can see he has something green on top of his head,” Stan said, pointing at a green blur.

They had almost all their classes together this year and it had been the same freshman and sophomore year. Not surprisingly, Stan and Kyle remained best friends through middle school and things didn’t seem like they were going to change on their third year of high school. They were currently on study hall, which Kyle gave up on taking seriously a long time ago. Nobody seemed to really study, except maybe Wendy Testaburger, but he had never shared it with her.

“Could have been a hat,” Kyle commented, while he aimlessly doodled on the back of his notebook.

“Oh come on Kyle, don’t you think it’s cool to have a superhero in our town?”

“It would be cool if this person is an actual superhero,” Kyle responded. “But there’s no real proof of that.”

Stan sighted. “My dad’s friend was inside the bank when it happened, he says everything they are saying is true.”

“Like adults in South Park are the brightest? Come on Stan, remember when our parents sent us away because they thought they were going to abduct us and we ended up living with the Mongolians?”

“Oh fuck,” Stan muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “And then they thought we didn’t remember them after like 4 days. That was so fucking stupid.”

Kyle chuckled at the memory. “So you can see why I’m skeptical.”

“This is different,” Stan affirmed.

 

* * *

 

By lunch time, Kyle had heard about a hundred different stories regarding the mysterious vigilante. It was getting far from ridiculous. Kyle joined Kenny and Stan in their usual table, but he was feeling far from hungry.

“I can’t stand this people anymore,” Kyle commented. “If they would just put that much effort into school, then maybe they would actually have a future.”

“Don’t start, you’re going to bum Kenny out,” Stan mocked.

“Why would that bum me out?” Kenny asked, taking a bite out of his lunch. “I don’t care about some stupid superhero crap.”

“Thank you!” Kyle exclaimed.

“You guys are so boring…” Stan used his phone while he slowly ate from his tray.

“We’re not boring, we just have better things to think about,” Kenny countered, winking at Kyle from across the table.

“Oh really? And can we know what those ‘things’ are?” Stan asked, not looking away from his phone.

“Like that freshman girl, Lillian.” Kenny motioned to a table filled with girls across the cafeteria. A petite brunette looked over, as if feeling she was being watched. Kenny winked at her and she smiled and blushed.

“Dude, not while we’re eating,” Stan whined.

“So Stanley can talk about Wendy all he wants, but I can’t.” Kenny almost sounded offended, but Kyle knew better than that.

“That’s different, when I talk about Wendy it's actual relationship stuff,” Stan pointed out. “When you talk about girls, it’s usually about disgusting sexual things you do or plan to do with them.”

“He’s not wrong,” Kyle added.

“Maybe if you actually dated a girl, Kyle and I would allow you to talk about her at lunch.”

“I don’t date,” Kenny responded with a smirk.

It's true. Kenny hadn’t dated a single girl since elementary school and that definitely didn’t count. At least not in Kyle’s book. He did sleep around a lot, everyone in school knew. Kenny, who at one point had been the shortest of the three, had a summer growth spurt that left everyone behind. The only guy in their grade that was taller than him was Craig and not by much. Girls were instantly all over him. He had always been the most sexually advanced of them all, ever since elementary school, so it was no surprise when he responded to all the girls’ pleas.

“Then there’s nothing we can do,” Stan said.

“Whatever dude, then talk about Wendy,” Kenny proposed. “I mean, you two have the big anniversary coming up.”

Stan blushed. “Umm… Yeah, we do.”

“What are you planning? Something special, I hope.”

Kyle’s stomach hurt. It always did when the topic of Wendy and Stan came forward. It wasn't like he wasn't happy for them. He had many mixed feeling, but Kyle tried hard to push the unwanted ones away.

“We’re having dinner at a restaurant,” Stan answered.

“And then you’re taking her to a hotel, right?” Kenny had a sly smile on his face. It made Kyle sick.

“The restaurant is actually in the hotel,” he went on, his voice coming out soft and nervous.

“That’s my Stanny!” Kenny congratulated, with a soft punch to his arm from across the table. “I knew I taught you well.”

Kyle played around with his food, not really wanting to be part of the conversation. His friends grew silent, so he looked over and saw Kenny giving him a weird look from across the table. It almost seemed like regret.

“Guys, check this out!!” Cartman suddenly appeared screaming, interrupting Kyle’s thoughts. He had his phone in his hand.

In middle school, Cartman had deemed himself “too cool” to hang out with them anymore, so he was almost never around. Kyle, Kenny and Stan didn’t really care. When high school began, Cartman would suddenly join them for lunch to share some piece of news that was usually more interesting to him than anyone else.

Kyle thought that such occurrences were due to him actually realizing he wasn’t cool at all and that he didn’t make any real new friends after ditching the trio. In fact, more often than not, he was seen hanging out with Butters. Not that there was anything wrong with Butters, but he was still pretty much perceived as a looser. Stan on the other hand, thought it was more due to nostalgia, he missed hanging out with them. Stan had always been more tolerant of Cartman in their childhood and often seemed to forget all the trouble he caused. Kenny didn’t comment much on the fact.

“What is it, fatass?”

“Well Stan,” Cartman began as he sat next to Kenny. “I’ve got pictures of the mysterious vigilante.”

“Yeah, we’ve all got them,” Stan replied.

“Oh, but the ones I’ve got are new and not blurry,” Cartman continued.

“No way,” Stan said, as he reached out to grab Cartman’s phone.

“Nah ah.”

Cartman moved his phone as far away as possible from Stan.

“If you want to see the pictures, you’ll have to do something for me.”

“Come on, he probably doesn’t have anything,” Kyle intervened.

“He probably made Butter take pictures with a costume on,” Kenny added.

“Shut up, Kyle! They are real and I bet y’all are dying to see them.”

Kyle laughed. “Keep dreaming fatass, y-“

“What do you want?” Stan interrupted.

“Stan, you can’t possibly consider doing a deal with him? We know Cartman’s full of bullshit.”

“Look, if the pictures are real I’ll do it, if they aren’t then the deal is off,” Stan proposed.

“You think it’s that easy with him?”

“Shut up you fucking Jew, let the grownups talk. Come on Stan, they are real good.”

Stan looked at Kyle in the eyes, then at Kenny.

“What do you want?” Stan repeated.

Cartman’s smile made Kyle uncomfortable. There was definitely something weird going on. “You guys will help me become a masked vigilante.”

And that was definitely not what Kyle expected, both Stan’s and Kenny’s laugh confirmed that Cartman has actually said such an outrageous thing. It was easy to join them with his own laughter.

“What's so funny you assholes?!”

They can’t stop laughing, even Kenny was holding his stomach tightly. Kyle hadn’t seen him laugh so hard in years.

“Cartman, you really…” Stan tried to say, but he just burst into laughter again.

“You know what?! Screw you guys, I’m going home.” Cartman stood up and was ready to leave.

“No, stop!” Stan tried very hard to stop laughing. “We’ll help you.”

Cartman narrowed his eyes, but sat back nonetheless.

“Yeah, totally,” Kyle joined him. “In fact, we can make a team of superheroes. I’ll strap a kite to my back so I can fly around and Stan can steal his father’s tool case and he can be like Batman or something,” Kyle mocked. “Oh and Kenny will probably need a cape!”

“Mock me all you want Kyle, I’m serious. I already have it all planned.” Cartman pulled out and unfolded a sheet of paper. It was titled in big bolded letter “The Coon”.

“The Coon?” Stan read. “Are you serious?”

“It’s my superhero persona, its part raccoon.”

Kenny laughed again. “This is ridiculous.”

“Okay fine, we will help you with this, but first, you have to show us the pictures.”

Cartman seemed to hesitate, but finally started looking through his phone. “There is this girl in the bank who took some decent pictures, but her phone broke during the fight,” Cartman explained. “She got it fixed today and sent it to some friends, who sent it to me.”

“Like you have friends,” Kyle sassed, which made Cartman grunt.

Until exactly that moment, Kyle thought that Cartman would show them fake pictures of him or Butters dressed like the vigilante.

“See, I told you guys I had them.”

The first picture couldn't be any clearer, it almost seemed professional. There stood a person, wearing a dark purple hood and cape. His face was partially covered with a black mask, making it impossible to tell who he was. He was wearing an off-lavender suit, olive-green gloves and even had a regular black buckle with what seemed like different weapons. A bright green letter M is stamped on his chest and there was a green question mark popping on top of his head. The white briefs everyone spoke about were clearly visible in the picture. The vigilante was stepping on top of one of the robbers, Kyle assumed, with brown boots.

The boys were speechless when Cartman swiped to the next picture. This one wasn’t as clear as the other one, but that was because it had been taken in the middle of the vigilante taking a gun from one of the robbers, while punching him on the stomach.

“Holy shit,” Stan mumbled, breaking the silence.

Kyle couldn't believe it. He was real.

“I fucking told you, this shit is badass.” Cartman put away his phone. “I’ll meet you after school, we’re going to my place.” And with that said, he left them alone.

“He’s real,” Kyle managed to say after a few more seconds of silence.

 

* * *

 

Stan and Kyle had Biology next, one of the few classes they shared with Kenny. Kyle liked this class because they sat in tables big enough for four students and the three of them shared theirs with Craig. They became friendlier with him in middle school, but Kenny was the one who had really befriended him first. Afterwards, they just began hanging out with him and Tweek a lot more.

Craig was already there and he greeted them with a nod.

“Hey Craig, did you see the new vigilante pics?” Stan immediately asked, as soon as he sat down.

“You mean the ones Cartman is exchanging for help on becoming ‘The Coon’?” He used his hands to gesture the quotations marks.

Kyle tuned out the conversation almost instantly. He had to recognize he was wrong about the vigilante, but he still didn't see the need to discuss the guy's existence every opportunity he had.

Other than him, Kenny was the only other person who didn't seem very interested.

Kenny hadn’t been the same since his mother died when they were in 7th grade. She had a stroke and the months following her death had been complete chaos. Unknown to anyone close to the family, Carol had insurance in case something happened to her, nobody was sure how. The insurance company had denied the money saying that it had been an overdose and their policies didn’t cover them.

Kyle’s father had fought a long and hard battle, he had taken the case because Stuart was his childhood friend, and because he knew how important Kenny was to his son. In the end, the insurance company ended up paying not only what was required, but even more thanks to a lawsuit Gerald had proposed. After that, the McCormicks had more than enough money to live comfortably. Kyle was so proud of his father after that.

Surprisingly as well, she had also left a list of conditions on how the money was to be used. It was probably done so Stuart wouldn’t waste it. On top of the list, was buying a new house, so they bought a larger one in a better neighborhood. Some of the money was to be invested into real state, so they now also had steady income. She had also set a monthly allowance for each member, none of them were able to withdraw more than that set amount. Kenny was to manage Karen’s until she was old enough to do so herself. It was a smart choice, since Kenny and his mother were the ones who really took care of her. Another amount was to be withdrawn monthly for groceries and she also gave that responsibility to Kenny. Carol was smart enough to know that he was the one who wouldn’t use it for something else. Kyle would have never thought Kenny’s mother had it in her to device such a plan for her family.

It seemed that things would turn out great for them, but money couldn’t solve everything. Stuart couldn’t deal with his wife’s death and slowly, his depression and anxiety took over. He wasted his money on alcohol and drugs, which didn’t really surprise anyone. Then Kevin, Kenny’s older brother dropped out of school and left South Park. Until this day, they haven’t heard from him again.

Kenny became the man of the house, he took care of Karen and himself, and took over a lot of responsibilities someone his age shouldn’t even have to think about.

Kyle and Stan worried constantly over him and tried to help out whenever they could. Kenny was never the same. He pretended he was, still making inappropriate jokes and flirting with everything that moved. Kyle just wished someday Kenny will be happy again.

Kyle was so lost in thoughts, class begun without him noticing.

“Hey dude,” Stan called and finally Kyle snaped out of them.

“What’s wrong?”

“We have work to do.”

 

* * *

 

The days passed by quickly for Kyle. The mysterious masked vigilante kept showing up in crime scenes and the police couldn’t even deny it anymore. Everyone talked about him, everyone in school idolized him, called him a superhero. He was loved by everyone except the police, who thought of him as a menace. Or so they said.

Kyle did't flaunt his admiration for him as Stan and everyone else did. It was insane, they had pictures of him in their locker and wore shirts with a green M stamped on it. Even Kenny was caught with a picture of him in his locker. Kyle followed him silently, reading news and looking at the new photographic evidence online. He stopped and listened whenever a newscaster spoke about him on TV.

Some of his time was also spent at Cartman’s. It turned out that he roped Craig, Tweek, Clyde, Jimmy and Token into the whole Coon thing with the same bait. Butters also joined them, but Kyle was sure that he didn’t need any convincing. It wasn’t as bad as he initially thought, most of the time Cartman just barked orders and the others worked on them while chatting and drinking.

A month passed since the first bank robbery bust and they were all in Cartman’s basement, working on The Coon’s costume design. None of them were taking it seriously, they just doodled stick figures with ears and a tail.

“GUYS! COME QUICK!” Cartman screamed from upstairs.

All of the boys looked at each other, stop their doodling, and followed Cartman’s voice. He was in the living room, watching the news.

“What the fuck do you want?” Clyde asked.

“They have a recording of the masked vigilante, it was sent to them and they are going to show it.”

“No way!” Stan exclaimed, as he sat next to Cartman on the couch.

Kyle and Kenny joined them, while the others settled on the arms of the couch or the floor.

The newscaster was a blonde woman and she was recounting all the amazing things the vigilante had done over the past month. There were pictures and videos from witnesses, as well as surveillance cameras.

_“And now we have said vigilante’s video, it was dropped off earlier in the morning and has been viewed by several of our experts to ensure that no censorship is necessary.”_

The screen turned dark and then his face appeared. He looked just like all the pictures and videos he had been caught on, the lavender hood darkened his face and he wore a black mask that covered most of his face. The lighting wasn’t good, but Kyle noticed that his skin was a bit tan and his eyes seemed to be blue, but the shadow the hood cast made it hard to confirm.

_“South Park...”_

His voice was rough, it reminds Kyle of Batman in The Dark Knight. Maybe that was what he was going for.

_"I could no longer sit by and watch as my city became a cesspool of crime. I have lived in South Park all my life. I decided it is up to me to keep this town safe. I am Mysterion._

“Mysterion?” one of the guys said softly.

_“I’m an angel keeping watch over the city at night. As violence and darkness take over the streets, I work to rid the city of crime. I’m the symbol this town needs."_

The screen went black again. The newscaster appeared again and baegan commenting on what was just shown.

“Mysterion, we finally know what the M stands for,” Stan commented. “He’s so badass.”

“Yeah! And that voice!” Butters intervened.

“So badass,” Token said.

They all chatted for what seems like hours while the news kept going on. Finally, they seemed to all grow tired for the moment and each of them decided to go home.

Kenny moved a couple of houses from Kyle’s, so it was normal that they ended up walking together.

“So, Mysterion…” Kyle tried to ease into conversation.

“Yeah.”

“He seems incredibly young, can’t be that much older than us.”

“I guess.” Kenny tried to smile, but Kyle knew him, knew when he was faking.

Kyle sighted. Kenny grew a lot, but he still wore an orange parka almost identical to the one he wore when he was a kid.

“How’s your father doing?”

“Same.”

“How about Karen?”

Kenny looked over at Kyle. “I know you’re trying to get me to talk, it’s not necessary.”

Kyle flinched. “It’s not like that, Kenny you’re my friend, I’m interested in your life.”

“My life is the same as it always has been, there’s never going to be anything new.”

“That’s not true, what about the brunette you’re dating. What's her name? Lyla?”

“Lillian, and we’re not dating,” he said harshly.

“Right, cause you don’t date.”

“I’m not interested in dating.”

“Come on, Kenny, how about we do something tonight? Want to come over and play videogames? Maybe watch something on Netflix?”

“Kyle.” Kenny stopped walking.

Kyle suddenly felt very small.

“Kenny, something’s wrong. I can tell.”

“Something’s been wrong for a long time.”

This was not how Kyle wanted this conversation to go. His heart started beating faster and he didn't know how to form words. Kenny started walking again, so Kyle followed.

“I can’t do anything tonight, I have things to do,” he said, breaking the silence.

“Oh,” was all Kyle managed to say.

“I’ll make it up to you.”

Kenny stopped again and Kyle noticed that they had arrived to his house. “It’s okay.” Kenny smiled, it seemed less fake this time.

“See you around.”

Kyle watched as Kenny continued walking toward his own house. Kenny almost never let his bad mood show, he wondered what was different this time.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, Kyle was in his computer working on his homework. It was Saturday night and Stan was out with Wendy celebrating their anniversary. He called and texted Kenny a few times to no avail. Giving up, he decided to finish his weekend homework and maybe watch a movie before going to bed.

The music was playing softly in his speaker when Kyle heard a thud coming from behind. He quickly spun on his chair and almost fell back at the sight.

It was Mysterion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, you guys will enjoy this. I have a few chapter written up, just waiting to be edited and posted. My wish is to update once a week, I hope I can keep up with it. I have drafted about 20 chapters, but that might change as I write.


	2. Trustworthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My help?” Now things were getting even more confusing. “How is that possible?”
> 
> “I’m conducting a personal investigation and I need someone not only with the proper skills, but who I can trust.” Mysterion sat on the windowsill. His relaxed position didn’t diminish how imposing his presence was. Kyle could feel the cold wind coming from outside, but it didn’t seem to faze Mysterion in the slightest.

Kyle had lived in South Park his entire life and had experienced his fair share of bizarreness for which the town was known for. Even with all the Mecha-Streisands and giant guinea pigs that had haunted his childhood, he was still surprised to find South Park’s new vigilante standing in front of his window.

“You are Mysterion,” he dared to say, but his body felt agitated.

“Kyle Broflovski.” His voice was as rough as it was on TV.

“How do you know my name?”

Kyle didn't dare move from his chair, Mysterion’s presence felt heavy.

“I need your help.”

“My help?” Now things were getting even more confusing. “How is that possible?”

“I’m conducting a personal investigation and I need someone not only with the proper skills, but who I can trust.” Mysterion sat on the windowsill. His relaxed position didn't diminish how imposing his presence was. Kyle could feel the cold wind coming from outside, but it didn't seem to faze Mysterion in the slightest.

“How do you know I have the proper skill? Hell, how do you know I’m trustworthy?” Kyle inquired.

“I’ve been watching you Kyle.”

A chill ran down his spine.

“For how long?”

At first, it seemed Mysterion was hesitant to answer. “All your life,” he confessed.

Kyle felt something change inside him, what was that supposed to mean? He bit the inside corner of his bottom lip, a habit he hadn’t been able to shake in years and was a sign of his distress.

“I know you have a lot of questions…”

“You bet I do!” Kyle stood up, but didn't attempt to move closer to the man. “You can’t just come barging into my room and ask me for a favor. I don’t know anything about you and it’s impossible that you know shit about my life.”

Mysterion was silent for a while, but his gaze bored into Kyle. It was unsettling to say the least.

“Why me?”

“I told you, I need someone who I can trust and has the right skills.”

“And you know I’m the right person because you’ve been watching me my whole life?” Mysterion nodded. “That’s fucking creepy man.”

Mysterion smirked. “Just listen and if you don’t want to help, I’ll leave and you will never see me again.”

Kyle hesitated, this was Mysterion. Everyone was fawning over him at school, hell, it was the whole town a this point. Just because he wasn’t as adamant on expressing his love for him like all his other friends do, didn't mean he didn't have some sort of admiration for him. This guy had saved many people and so far, had done nothing wrong to make him seem unreliable.

“Fine.”

Mysterion stood and walked toward Kyle. It's then that the latter noticed he had a folder in his hand. Mysterion handed it to him and Kyle quickly opened it. There was a list of names.

“I need you to find out everything you can about this people,” Mysterion explained. “More specifically, I want to know what they were up to 17 years ago and where they are now.”

Kyle looked at the list and then back at Mysterion. “Why? Who are this people?”

“They belong or used to belong to a cult here in South Park.”

“A cult?”

“I haven’t found much about it, that’s why I need your help.”

“You should ask Jimmy,” Kyle suggested. “Jimmy Valmer, he’s the editor of the school’s newspaper. He’s very good with background checks.”

“I don’t trust Jimmy Valmer.”

“How about Wendy Testaburger? She’s my best friend’s girlfriend and the smartest one in my grade, she could pro-“

“I don’t trust anyone but you Kyle,” Mysterion snapped.

Kyle’s stomach felt ill. This was not normal, there had to be something Mysterion wasn’t saying.

“This cult is something personal, I need to know what they were doing 17 years ago.”

“Can I know why?” Kyle didn't know where he was finding the courage to ask all this questions.

“Maybe someday.”

Kyle checked the list again, none of the names seemed familiar. “I’ll do it.”

“Thank you,” Mysterion said and he walked back to the window. “I’ll come by in a few days to see how you’re doing.”

Kyle watched the vigilante as he gots on the windowsill. “Do I get anything in return for helping you?”

Mysterion smiled. It was very small, but it made Kyle’s stomach hurt in a whole other way.

“Is there something you want from me?”

Why did he ask that? He didn't need anything, he didn't want to seem greedy.

“I-I don’t know…”

“If you think of something, let me know.” And with that, Mysterion jumped off the window.

What the fuck had just happened?

 

* * *

 

Sunday morning, Kyle woke up by a text message from Stan.

_Stan: lets get lunch kenny is coming too_

Kyle yawned as he reread the message. He sat on his bed ready to answer, when memories from the previous night flooded his mind. Mysterion had been in his room, had asked for his help.

“Shit...”

He glanced around and saw the folder with the names. It wasn’t a dream. Kyle should probably find a safe place for that. He looked at his phone again and noticed it was almost midday. He slept all morning.

It was hardly his fault, after Mysterion left, all Kyle could think about was the conversation they shared. Nothing made sense anymore and so, he had paced around his room unable to concentrate on his homework. He finally sat on his bed and tried to read a book, but the conversation just kept repeating over and over in his head. Even when he felt tired and decided it was time for bed, he spent all night thinking about him, making up millions of alternative things he could have said.

_Stan: are you still asleep_

Another message from Stan. How was he supposed to keep this a secret from Stan and Kenny? Mysterion hadn’t said to not tell anyone, but he mentioned it was personal. It wouldn’t be right to tell anyone. They probably wouldn’t even believe him

_Kyle: Just woke up, had a rough night._

_Kyle: Lunch sounds great. Time? Place?_

He placed his phone down and walked to his desk, picking up the folder. The bottom drawer of his desk has a key, he never had anything worth locking inside though. Kyle opened it and its filled with old reports and essays from school as well as tests. He placed the folder in the middle of the pile and closed it, for the first time locking it and removing the key. The key would remain with him at all times.

A beep came from his phone and Kyle quickly went to check it.

_Stan: tweek bros has a new lunch menu kenny wanted to check it out_

_Stan: half an hour sounds good?_

_Kyle: Half an hour is fine. See you there._

 

* * *

 

 

When Kyle arrived at Tweek Bros., Kenny was sitting on the bench outside. His elbows were resting over his legs, his hands covering his face. Kyle looked inside the coffee shop, it was the fullest Kyle had seen it ever.

He joined Kenny on the bench, his presence made him uncover his face and looked at Kyle with tired eyes.

“Dude, you look like shit.”

Kenny gave him a sloppy smile. “It’s nice to see you too.”

“What the hell were you doing last night?” Kyle asked with concern. He had seen Kenny look tired before, but the bruises under his eyes were darker than even Tweek’s.

“I wasn’t feeling well, couldn’t sleep much.”

Kyle instinctively placed his hand on Kenny’s forehead. “You should have called, I could have brought you something.” His forehead was cool.

“I’m all better now, just tired.” Kenny removed Kyle’s hand from his forehead, the smile still adorning his face. “You don’t have to worry. Although I would have loved having you play nurse for me.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “You should have stayed home and rested.”

“I wanted to see you guys,” Kenny admitted.

Kyle noticed that Kenny was still holding his hand and he slowly removed it.

“Stan said he’s running late,” Kenny informed.

“That’s not surprising.”

There was a silence that Kyle wouldn’t describe as awkward, but it wasn’t comfortable either. The truth was he worried about Kenny constantly. Stan would tell him to stop “mothering” him, but it was inevitable. Kenny had gone through so much he didn’t deserve and even when it seemed like he would finally catch a break, more problems appeared.

“Next time you fill ill, call me.” Kyle noticed that Kenny’s smile had disappeared from his face. “Even a common cold can be dangerous if not treated properly.”

“You worry too much, Kyle.”

“Then don’t give me reason to worry,” Kyle blurted out. He regretted it immediately when Kenny tensed. “I don’t mean it like that, it’s just, we’ve been through so much together. Maybe it’s time that you start trusting me more.”

“You are the person I trust the most.” The way he said it made Kyle felt something in his heart, it felt so honest. Kenny was looking directly at his eyes.

Kyle remembered Mysterion saying he trusted him and only him. It was weird to think people see him as trustworthy, he had never given them any reason to.

“Hey guys, what are you doing outside?” Stan asked, interrupting Kyle’s thoughts.

“Hey Stan, we were wait for you,” Kyle replied.

“It’s so full inside anyways, I’m not sure we will get a table,” Kenny added.

“Don’t worry about that, I called Tweek and he has a table saved for us.” Stan looked happier than normal, his anniversary date with Wendy must have gone really well, Kyle guessed. “Come on.”

They entered Tweek Bros. together and it seemed like Tweek had been waiting for them. Even through the huge mass of people, the blond spotted them immediately.

“Hey guys!” he greeted. Tweek had chilled since elementary school, but there was still an edge to him that made Kyle uneasy. He worried that Tweek will one day have a nervous breakdown or something. Maybe Kenny was right, he did worry too much.

“Dude, this place is packed,” Stan commented.

Tweek smiled. “Yeah, our new strategy of being more personal with the customers has worked great. I just hope I don’t screw it up.”

“Nah Tweek, you’re the best,” Kenny encouraged, while wrapping his arm around Tweek’s shoulders. “So Stan tells me you have a table for us.”

“Oh yes!!” Tweek chirped, like he had forgotten. “Come on, follow me.”

He lead them to the other side of the coffee shop, to the only table that was empty. It had a reserved sign on top. Kyle observed how Kenny kept his arm around Tweek and the other boy didn't seem to mind at all. He never realized how close Kenny had become with both Tweek and Craig until a few months ago when school started. The reason why wasn’t exactly clear to him either. It just happened.

They sat in the table and Tweek handed them each a menu before taking off the sign.

“These are the new menus,” Tweek announced. “Token designed them.”

Kyle admires the work, Token had always fancied himself a graphic designer. He was working on the school’s newspaper with Jimmy and had been praised on how the paper had never looked better.

“He did a great job as usual,” Kyle commented.

“Read through it and someone will come soon to take your order.” They all nodded as Tweek left.

“This is looking more like a restaurant now,” Stan observed.

“It’s nice that Tweek’s doing well, I know he was feeling a lot of pressure when his father asked him to help renew the place,” Kenny mentioned.

They chatted a bit while deciding what to order, it wasn’t a long menu, but there were still many options.

“Are you guys ready to order?” That monotonous nasal voice could only belong to someone.

“Craig? I didn’t know you worked here,” Stan pointed out sounding annoyed.

“It’s just temporary, Tweek’s been needing help and hasn’t found anyone to hire,” Craig explained. “So? Order?” Craig sounded annoyed, there were probably a million things that he’d rather be doing than this.

“You don’t get many tips, do you?” Kenny remarked, causing Craig to stare at him menacingly.

They each ordered some lunch and a drink. Craig wrpte it all down in an iPad with the Tweek Bros. logo on the back, Kyle assumed it was part of Tweek’s renewal, and left.

“So Stan, how was your anniversary date?” Kenny asked with a goofy smile.

“It was okay.”

“No way it went just okay,” Kenny said. “Did you do it right Stan?”

Stan went red. “Well yeah, it was amazing.”

“Amazing how?” Kenny asked, his classic sly smile on his face.

He proceeded to tell them all about the anniversary date. Kyle felt the little pang in his chest, he always felt it when Stan talks about Wendy. He tried to ignore it and smile.

“…And that’s about it, I guess,” Stan finished.

“We both know that’s not it,” Kenny said with a wink.

“That’s the whole story you are going to get. I’ll hit the restroom before the food arrives.” Kenny and Kyle both nod as Stan left.

There was a silence Kyle didn't notice until Kenny broke it a couple of minutes later.

“I’m sorry I asked,” he said and when Kyle saw across at him, he was covering his face with his hands. Kyle knew Kenny liked covering his face so no one could see his emotions. When he was a kid, he covered it with his parka, but now that he was older, his hands filled the role.

Confusion covered Kyle’s face. “Asked what?”

“About them, I forget it’s still a sore subject for you,” he explained.

Kyle furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t know what you’re refereeing to.”

He sighed. “Kyle, I know.”

“Know what?” He couldn’t possibly know, he had never mentioned it to anyone.

“About Stan.” Kenny was looking at him with soft eyes, Kyle rarely saw them like that and right now he hated them. How could he know?

“What about Stan?” Feigning ignorance wasn’t probably the best way to deal with it.

“Dude, I know you think you hide it well and you do, actually.” They were sitting face to face in the booth Tweek located them in. Kenny pressed his hand on top of the arm Kyle had on top of the table. “I’ve known you my whole life and I can see the way you look at him. It’s not like how you look at other people.”

Kyle felt all the air leave his lungs. Kenny knew. How? Kenny was goofy and always joking around. They rarely had a serious conversations. Why was he the one who noticed? Did other people notice it too?

“I think I’m probably the only one who knows,” Kenny commented, most likely knowing what he was thinking.

“I don’t understand,” Kyle managed to say. “I’ve never…” He stared at Kenny’s hand over his arm. This wasn’t happening.

“I shouldn’t have brought it up, I just thought maybe you would want to talk about it with someone.”

How long had he known?

“Stan is coming back, we can talk about this if you want after lunch.”

Kyle looked at Kenny and felt anger. This wasn’t happening.

Stan joined them at the table and Kenny removed his hand before he noticed. Kyle remained silent while his friends chatted amicably. The food arrived and they started eating. Stan complimenteds how good the sub he had ordered was.

He ate slowly, his appetite was gone.

“Hey man, are you okay?” Stan asked. Kyle just looked at him and felt sick. “You haven’t said a word in a while.”

“Umm... Yeah, sorry,” he apologized. “Had a rough night, I think I’m more tired than I thought.” He felt Kenny’s worried eyes from across the table.

“You and Kenny should probably rest after lunch.”

Kyle noded and afterwards, he tried to participate in the conversation a bit more.

 

* * *

 

Stan left after lunch, but not before telling them both to go get some sleep. For someone who was always nagging Kyle about worrying, he also did his own share of it.

Kyle and Kenny walked home together. Silence lingered between them, neither wanting to start the conversation that was inevitable.

“Kyle,” Kenny began.

“Kenny no,” Kyle interrupted softly. “I don’t think I can do this.”

They walked a bit more, nearing the park. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Yes there is,” Kyle bawled. “He’s my best friend. I can’t have these feelings. I’m just the worst friend ever.”

The park was relatively empty for a Sunday afternoon. It was mid-October and this year it had been the coldest in 10 years according to the news.

“You’re not a bad friend, you can’t control how you feel.” Hearing Kenny being so serious about this was unexpected. Kyle might have been angry at first, but that had dissipated. It was hard to stay mad at someone who had done nothing wrong.

“How long have you known?”

They passed by a bench and Kenny sat down. At first, Kyle hesitated, but there was no way he was getting out of this conversation, so he joined him.

“I’m not sure,” Kenny answered. “I think I knew before you did.”

“That’s not possible, I’ve known for…” Kyle paused as he thought about how long he had liked Stan.

“When we were kids, you and Stan had something special. It’s hard to explain how, but the connection you two had is something I envied.”

“Kenny...”

Kenny sighed. “Just let me finish. The two you had each other’s back, even when you had petty fights. It’s not like I ever felt left out.” He was looking at his hands as they layed in his lap. Kyle wondered if he even knew Kenny at all. In all their years as friends, he never expected any of this. “As we grew older, I started noticing things. The way you treated Stan, you were always on his back about everything. If he called, you would be there in an instant, no matter what you were doing. And the way you look at him, dude, there is so much affection.”

Kyle didn't know where to look, his face was red. There were a couple of kids playing on the swings and a few cars passed by. He settled on looking at Kenny, whose own sight was set on his hands.

“For years, I just had that. I couldn’t ask you, I didn’t know how you were going to react. We weren’t exactly the closest friends either back then. Then everything happened with my mom and shit got way too complicated.” Kenny was tense, he almost never mentioned his mother. “But after that, I was grateful, you know? It’s fucked up, but all that shit was what made us friends.”

“No, Kenny, we were friends before that,” Kyle protested. “We’ve always been friends.”

“Look, I’m not saying we weren’t friends. I’m just saying that we were not the kind of friends we are now.”

“I-“

“It’s okay, it’s just how things were. We were friends, but we weren’t close friends. After my mom… That’s when it happened.” Kenny finally looked away from his hands and at Kyle. The smile he gave Kyle knocked all sense out of him. It seemed so honest. “And well, after we became close friends I really saw that it’s just Stan you treat that way. There was definitely something more in there. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure until him and Wendy got back together.”

Kyle remembered. Stan and Wendy broke up in elementary school and didn’t get back together until last year. For years they had gone out, but Stan insisted they were just friends. Kyle, who had been pining after Stan all that time, always had a tiny bit of hope. Then they got back together and something inside broke.

“I’m sorry, I thought that by now you were over it. You seemed a lot better and-“

“I pushed it to the back of my mind,” Kyle interrupted, a knot in his throat making it hard to speak. “I felt like the worst friend in the world because I couldn’t be happy for my best friend. So I just pushed everything back and tried to make it work.” The little pang of hurt appeared and it wasn’t getting easier with time.

“You’re not the worst friend in the world dude, I would know.” Kenny wrapped his arm around his shoulder affectionately.

Kyle smiled. “I am happy for him.”

“I know.”

“I don’t understand why these feelings don’t just go away.”

Kenny squeezed harder. “You’ve felt that way for a long time, it’s a hard habit to let go of.”

“Thank you Kenny,” he said. Kenny just nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very thankful for the feedback and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.


	3. You Look Like Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You look like shit,” Stan blurted out.  
> “Wow, not cool.” Kyle was trying to smile, wanting to seem like nothing was wrong. The look on both of his friends’ eyes told that he wasn’t very convincing.  
> “Ky, maybe you should chill a bit,” Kenny said very sweetly, kind of like he was treating him like a baby. “How about we do something after school? I do owe you some Netflix time.”

His talk with Kenny left him on edge and Kyle really needed to distract himself from his personal life. That’s why when he arrived home, the first thing he did was take out the list of people Mysterion gave him from his locked drawer.

The list contained exactly twenty-two people, but he could only find detailed information about nine of them. From those nine, two had the possibility of being either of two people with the same name living in Colorado. There was also a possibility some of the others could have moved out of the state, but Kyle thought it would be easier for Mysterion to track people nearby.

Kyle decided to concentrate on the seven people who he was almost positive were the ones on the list. He started with a regular background check, social networks and newspapers. Then he went with more questionably legal things. Mysterion said he had the skills and by that and the fact that he said he knew Kyle, he assumed that the vigilante also knows about his way into the police data base and other sources.

It wasn’t something he was proud of, but years of living in South Park forced him to acquire certain skills. Everything was always the same. Something small happened that was mostly Cartman’s fault, they try to cover it up or fix it one way or another, the whole town got involved, things were taken way out of proportion, they turned fucked up and then the four of them were forced to tell everyone what they learned and fix the problem. More often than not, Kyle was left with the speech.

When Cartman stopped hanging out with them, this occurrences did deplete. South Park was still a magnet for the bizarre and Mysterion showed him that it was never really over.

 

* * *

 

In the following days, Kyle completely consumed himself in his research. The main reason, although Kyle would't admit it to himself, was that he was trying to forget about Stan and his conversation with Kenny. By Thursday, both Kenny and Stan were concerned about their friend’s behavior.

“Dude, what the hell are you working on?” Stan asked him during lunch.

Kyle had been furiously typing on his phone and not letting anyone see.

“Just some work,” Kyle answered nonchalantly.

Stan looked at Kenny, who shared a concern look. “What work?”

“It’s something for my dad’s law firm, I’m helping out a bit,” he lied, finally looking away from his phone. “Just some research.”

“Don’t you think you’re taking it a bit far?” Kenny, who was sitting next to Kyle, wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Are you even sleeping?”

“Ah, well.” He hadn’t slept much these past days. Every time he tried to sleep, his mind wouldn’t stop reminding him of how much a fuck up he was for having feelings for Stan. “I mean, I sleep a few hours, it’s enough.”

“You look like shit,” Stan blurted out.

“Wow, not cool.” Kyle was trying to smile, wanting to seem like nothing was wrong. The look on both of his friends’ eyes said that he wasn’t very convincing.

“Ky, maybe you should chill a bit,” Kenny said very sweetly, kind of like he was treating him like a baby. “How about we do something after school? I do owe you some Netflix time.”

“I can’t!” It was out of his mouth before he could actually think. “I-I have to finish this soon.”

If he hung out with them, they were most likely going to stay over until late. Kyle had to finish his research in case Mysterion showed up at night.

“Fine, but tomorrow we’re doing shit.” Stan sounded very determined. “And get some sleep.”

“Sure mom.”

Kenny hugged him tighter. “We’re just worried about you honey.”

Kyle sniggered.

 

* * *

 

Kyle was nervous, he finished all of his research and was ready for whenever Mysterion decided to arrive. He wished he had a way to communicate with the vigilante, but for now he just kept his window open.

It was cold and Kyle kept rereading the information. He had some of it on his laptop, but he also printed out some of the profiles in case Mysterion wanted to take them with him.

After a few hours, Kyle grew tired of waiting and went downstairs for some food. It was 11 pm, he should probably consider going to bed. Stan had been right, he looked like shit. Kyle had always been pale, but now his skin looked ghostly. Maybe it was the contrast it made with the dark bags that appeared on his face after many sleepless nights.

When Kyle returned to his room, he was surprised by Mysterion standing next to his window. It took him a few minutes though, to notice a huge red stain near his chest.

“What happened to you?” Kyle managed to say before he was running to the vigilante’s side. All caution he had last time they met was gone, replaced by concern.

“It’s nothing to concern yourself with.” Kyle was hovering over him, trying to get a good look at his wound.

“Bullshit, let me look at it.”

“It’s just a scratch,” Mysterion insisted, but Kyle wasn’t convinced.

It was weird being so close to the vigilante, he smelled like blood and sweat. Kyle placed a hand on the shoulder near the wound. “Look man, I’m not an idiot. You can take of that thing without removing your hood and mask, so just do it?”

“If you wanted to get in my pants, you just had to say so.” That's not something Kyle ever expected to come out of Mysterion’s mouth. He went red as the vigilante looked down on him with a smirk.

“Shut up,” he muttered, slowly pushing the man towards his bed. “Sit down and take that off, I’ll be right back.”

“You literally just got me in your bed.” Kyle went even redder as Mysterion sat on his bed. He quickly headed towards the bathroom for the first aid kit that his mother kept there and to wash his hands. He also filled a bowl with water and grabbed a clean wash cloth.

When he returned, Mysterion had shed part of his suit, just enough to reveal the top part of his chest. There was a lot of blood and a gash underneath his right collarbone. Kyle set the kit on his bed and sat next to Mysterion on the edge of the bed, legs crossed.

“This is not ‘just a scratch’,” Kyle said softly as he inspected the wound with his hand. “An infection in a small wound is still an infection.”

Mysterion flinched when Kyle touched too close to the wound. “Believe me when I say that tomorrow it won’t matter.” His voice didn't sound in pain.

“Whatever.” Kyle took out a sterile bandage from its package and pressed it on the wound. It hadn’t stop bleeding yet, which worried him. “What if you need stitches? I can’t take you to the hospital.”

“I don’t need stitches.” Mysterion was’t really opposing Kyle’s care, even if his words said so.

It seemed the bleeding had stopped a bit from the pressure, so Kyle soaked the wash cloth in the bowl and started cleaning the blood around the wound.

“What were you even doing?”

“Fighting crime,” Mysterion answered.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “You’re not what expected," he commented after a few minutes of silence.

“What did you expect?”

“Someone serious, kind of like Batman… The new Batman,” he answered.

Mysterion smiled, which caught Kyle by surprise due to its warmness. “I don’t tend to interact with others when I’m Mysterion.”

“Maybe some of your personality is bleeding out, you better be careful or I will find out who you are,” Kyle commented, as he finished cleaning the wound. Mysterion didn't say anything about that.

Kyle examined the wound better now that it was all cleaned up. It wasn’t as deep as he initially thought, but there seemed to be fragments of something in it. He picked up a tweezer from the kit and took a piece off, very carefully.

“Is this glass?” He asked, looking at how it shimmered red with the light.

“I got stabbed with a piece of glass, could have been worse,” Mysterion answered.

“Worse?! How could it have been worse?” Kyle wondered exasperated.

Mysterion smiled again. “He had a gun.”

Kyle stomach flipped and he remembered the picture Cartman showed them when it all began. He continued removing shards of glass from the wound. The guy almost got shot and here he was, acting as if nothing had happened.

“You’re very good at this,” Mysterion praised, which made Kyle blush again.

“I go camping every summer with my little brother Ike,” Kyle told him. “My mother is very paranoid and overprotective, so she had us take classes in case something were to happen. You know, in case we got injured or lost in the woods.” Kyle used the bandage to hold the wound again. Now that he finished removing the shards, it started bleeding again. “I thought I would never need them until now.”

“I’m glad she did.”

“Yeah right, I think you would prefer dying in a ditch than having me dress your wound.”

“What makes you say that?”

Kyle was pressing the wound and feeling the warmness coming from the vigilante’s body. “You wouldn’t let me treat you.”

“I didn’t want to impose more than I have already done.”

“This might sting,” Kyle informed as he applied a thin layer of ointment in the wound. Mysterion didn't seem affected. “You’re not imposing by the way, it’s nice to have a distraction.”

Mysterion watched as Kyle opened up another package of bandages. He carefully placed it on top of the wound and secured it with medical tape. “Thank you.”

Kyle smiled. “As I said, it's nice to have a distraction.” He closed up the ointment and handed it to Mysterion. “Here, it won’t make it heal faster, but it will prevent an infection.”

“It’s not necessary,” Mysterion objected.

“Dude, just take it.”

Mysterion took it from his hand and placed it on one of the many pouches on his belt. He then placed his suit back up. Seeing him up close now that the stress from the wound had dissipated, Kyle noticed that he did have blue eyes. There were quite a few people in school with the same colored eyes, even in his grade there were more than a hand full. That was when Kyle realized that Mysterion could be any one of them.

He couldn't even be Stan or Kenny.

“Have you managed to find something about the people in the cult?” Mysterion inquired.

Kyle was startled by the question, but he quickly recovered and went over to his desk. “Yes, I’ve done a lot of research.” Mysterion joined him, sitting on the chair that Kyle had for when Stan or Kenny came over to work. “It’s not as much as I would have liked, but its somewhere to start.”

He went through his papers and pulled out the list that was originally given to him.

“Okay so, from the 22 people you gave me, I have only confirmed 7.” He handed a folder to Mysterion. “This is all the information I’ve gathered so far from them. You mentioned a cult, but not what cult so I started investigating about them in South Park.”

Kyle opened up his laptop and started going through files.

“Unsurprisingly, South Park has a lot of cult activities, but the one I think you were referring to is the Cult of Cthulhu.”

Mysterion nodded.

“There are actually many cults dedicated to Cthulhu and they all have different characteristic. After much research I concluded that the one in South Park calls itself The Brothers of the Yellow Sign. I couldn’t find much about the cult activities, but 16 years ago there were a few arrest. One of the arrested members is on your list, her name is Diane Torrance.”

Mysterion opened the folder and noticed that she was the first on the stack.

“If you give me time, I can probably find out a lot more. I just started and there’s still a lot to cover,” Kyle said.

“Fine,” he handed back the folder to Kyle. “Keep working on this, I’ll be back in a few days. I need locations of this people and I need more information about the cult.”

“Yeah, sure,” Kyle replied, receiving the papers.

“But Kyle, don’t over exert yourself,” he added. “I’ve waited years for this, there’s no need for you to rush.”

“I’m not!” Kyle protested.

“You look tired.”

“It’s okay, it’s not like I’m losing sleep over this or anything,” Kyle tried to reassure.

Mysterion looked troubled, it was disconcerting. He stood up and headed towards the window. “Just take care and thank you again, for all of this.”

Kyle nodded as he watched the vigilante jump out of the window. This time, Kyle rushed over and tried to see where he was headed, but when he poked his head out, the man had disappeared. He closed the window and went back to his bed to pick up the mess.

Mysterion could be someone really close to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did research for this, so its almost kind of accurate I guess??


	4. The Brothers of The Yellow Sign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Dude!!” Stan screamed, waving a hand in front of Kyle’s face.  
> “Yeah?”  
> “Okay, that's it! Tonight you’re sleeping over at my place, Kenny too. We’re making sure you get a good night’s sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad that the last chapter was very short, so have this one earlier.

That Friday morning Kyle was incredibly paranoid at school. Why were there so many students with blue eyes that could perfectly fit as Mysterion? Stan and Kenny were his first choice. He sat in class thinking if his best friends would seriously keep such a big secret for him.

They both had blue eyes, although Stan’s were much darker than Kenny’s. They were both tall and well built. Stan, being a football player, kept up with his regular exercise and had a body that made Kyle blush every time he saw him half naked. He hadn’t seen Kenny shirtless in years, but in summer when he lost his orange parka, he didn't look lanky at all. He had nice arms as far as Kyle could tell.

There were other boys with blue eyes. Kevin Stoley for one and Kyle could totally picture him trying to be Mysterion. He was such a nerd, it wouldn’t be surprising if he decided to become one of his superheroes. Kyle had never been close to Kevin though, so in order for him to be Mysterion, Kevin would have had to be stalking Kyle since they were kids.

“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” Stan interrupted his train of thoughts.

Kyle looked at him, they were sitting across each other at lunch. Was it lunch already? Kenny was sitting next to Stan looking at him with the same concern. “What?” was all he manages to say.

“You’re starring daggers at Kevin Stoley,” Stan told him.

“What?” Kyle said again and then he saw Kevin sitting a few tables away with his group of friends.

“Ky, did you get any sleep last night?” Kenny asked.

“Umm… Yeah?” He had slept about an hour, but he didn't feel super tired. It wasn’t easy sleeping with the possibility of a mysterious masked vigilante being around him, watching him while he was at school.

Kyle wondered if it would be too weird to ask all the boys to remove their shirts. That way he could see who had the same wound as Mysterion’s last night.

“Dude!!” Stan screamed, waving a hand in front of Kyle’s face.

“Yeah?”

“Okay, that’s it! Tonight you’re sleeping over at my place, Kenny too. We’re making sure you get a good night’s sleep.”

“I can’t.” What the hell? Did he look that bad?

“Kyle, you were barely paying attention to your classes and you’ve never had dark circles around your eyes like that. And I’ve seen you study the shit out of finals.”

“He’s right,” Kenny joined.

“And I’m not buying that whole work for your father bullshit, it’s Friday,” Stan added.

“Look, I understand your concern,” Kyle began, trying to concentrate on his friends. Maybe he was tired. “But I can’t do that tonight, maybe I can hang for a while or something.”

“It’s nonnegotiable,” Stan countered. “Ken and I are both bigger and stronger than you, we will make you.” He looked at Kenny for confirmation.

“Hell yeah! We’ll kidnap you and lock you away,” Kenny joked. “Stan will be the evil witch who’ll cast a spell on you and make you sleep all night. Then I volunteer to be your prince and kiss you in the morning to break the spell.” He winked.

Stan laughed. Kyle sighted. “I thought the kiss was supposed to come from true love’s kiss or whatever.”

Kenny seemed completely caught off guard by that statement, but he quickly recovered and plastered a smile on his face. “I’m offended I’m not your one true love Ky.”

Kyle laughed, but it was almost sad. “Fine, but can we sleepover at my place?” In all honestly, he couldn't handle sleeping near Stan anytime soon, but if he had to, better be on his own terms.

“Sure,” Stan answered with a big smile.

 

* * *

 

Kenny was the first to arrive at his place at around 4 pm. He dropped his bag next to the door and threw himself on the bed. Kyle, very silently pushed all the Mysterion research papers into the bottom drawer and locked it. He had been working on them.

“Wanna join me here?” Kenny asked, patting the space next to him on the bed.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Sure, why not?”

They had done it before, just laid on Kyle’s bed looking at the ceiling. It used to be easier when they were younger and fitted more comfortably on his queen sized bed. Kenny had grown over night or at least it felt that way to Kyle. A few summers ago he had gone with his family to visit his aunt in Connecticut. When he left, Kenny was this tiny skinny kid with even more of a baby face than Butters. Then he returned and found a tall, lanky teenager. His face had lost all of its roundness. It was overwhelming, especially since that made Kyle the shortest of the trio.

“Are you ever going to tell me what’s really going on?”

Kyle sighed. “I’ve just had a lot going on my mind.”

“Stan?”

“Among other things.” Kyle could feel Kenny looking at him, but he kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling. “It’s just easier to occupy my mind with other shit.”

“If you sleep, you won’t have to think about it for maybe 6 to 7 hours.”

“Every time I try to sleep, I just start overthinking basically everything,” Kyle explained. “And then I get stressed and anxious and…” He finally met Kenny’s eyes. “It’s just easier to tire myself until I faint, even if I don’t sleep more than a couple of hours.”

“Ky, you can’t keep doing this. You’re going to fuck yourself over.” There was so much concern in Kenny’s eye. The guilt made his stomach hurt. “Have you thought about telling Stan?”

“That I like him?! Are you insane?!”

“He’s your best friend, he’ll understand.”

“No way! It’s Stan, he will freak out and I’ll never see him again.” It wasn’t such a stretch, Stan wasn’t good at dealing with other people’s feelings.

“How about getting a boyfriend?”

“A boyfriend?!”

“You know, your tone of voice can get ultrasonic,” Kenny commented with a smile, while mockingly covering his ears.

“I can’t get a boyfriend, I’m not even sure if I’m gay.” Kyle looked back at the ceiling. “I mean, I’ve only kissed girls.”

“You kissed two girls when you were like 9, that doesn’t really count.”

“Yes it does!” Kyle defended himself. “Well, maybe not Bebe, but Rebecca counts. I liked her.”

“And then you turned her into a slut,” Kenny countered.

“Hey! That’s not nice.”

“I’m just saying, you don’t have the best track record.”

“Not everyone can be you, who has girls flinging themselves at them.”

“The only reason you are not ‘dripping in bitches’ is because you’re not putting yourself out there,” Kenny explained. “Girls like it when you are up for it.”

“I wouldn’t want that anyways…”

“You probably want boys all over you.”

“I kind of just want one person,” Kyle said so softly, he wasn’t even sure Kenny heard.

It was a few seconds before Kenny responded. “That’s why you should find yourself someone.”

Kenny was looking at him again and when Kyle met his gaze, there was a fondness there he rarely saw in him. “And who would want me?”

“That’s stupid, who wouldn’t want you?”

They stared at each other for a while. Kenny was about to say something when Stan bursted in.

“Hey,” he greeted and then stopped to look at them in bed. “Does that mean I get the floor?”

 

* * *

 

Kyle had to admit it was a fun evening. They played video games and watched a few movies, then stuffed themselves with pizza Kyle’s mom brought them. However, it wasn’t enough to distract Kyle from certain thoughts.

Before Kenny arrived, he had been deep in research and found a web forum that seemed to belong to The Brothers of The Yellow Sign. It was fishy, no doubt, but they did say they were looking for new recruits. After assuming a false identity, he managed to convince one of the admins he wanted to join.

They gave him an address and a time. He had to be there tonight.

“Just cause we’re here, doesn’t mean you can’t sleep naked Ky,” Kenny said, bringing him back to reality. “If that’s how you’re comfortable then we won’t mind.”

“I mind,” Stan chimed in.

Kyle laughed. “It’s okay, I prefer to sleep in my pjs.” Stan and Kenny had already changed into their pajamas, although the shirt and boxers Kenny was wearing definitely didn't count as that.

How was he going to get away from them?

“I’ll go change now,” he announced and went to his closet to get his pajamas. He then went to the bathroom outside and changes quickly. Kyle didn't throw his clothes into the dirty laundry hamper his mother kept there. He carefully folded it and hid it underneath the sink.

When he returned to his room, Stan was set on his sleeping bag on the floor, while Kenny was sprawled on his bed. He wiggled his eyebrows and Kyle rolled his eyes.

“Come on Ken, you know I’m sleeping in my bed,” Kyle whined.

“I know, I was hoping to sleep right here next to you.” Kenny winked at him, which made Kyle blush.

He marched to his bed, picked up his pillow and began hitting Kenny with it. “Get out!” he screamed, as he hit Kenny continuously.

“Fine! Fine!” Kenny left the bed and went over to his own sleeping bag.

Kyle sat on his bed and noticed Stan was laughing quietly at their exchange. He loved when Stan laughs.

“How about you Stan? Want to cuddle with me in my sleeping bag, its big enough for the two.” He was hit with a cushion on the face, courtesy of Stan. “Whatever, you’re the ones who are missing out.”

Kenny buried himself in his sleeping bag. Kyle turned off the lights and returned to his bed. He just had to pretend to sleep for an hour or so, it was only 10 pm and the meeting was at midnight. His bed was nice and warm from Kenny, so it was easy to accommodate himself under the sheets.

He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, Kyle saw both Stan and Kenny sitting on their sleeping bag, staring at him. They were barely visible by the street lamps.

“What the fuck are you guys doing?”

“Waiting for you to fall asleep,” Stan answered with a smile.

“You didn’t expect us to believe you will just fall asleep like that,” Kenny added, also with a smile.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Kyle sat up. “How am I supposed to sleep if the two of you are staring at me like creeps?”

“We just want to make sure, man.” Stan seemed really concerned, so Kyle just laid back.

“It’s funny cause I’ve stared at you when you sleep before,” Kenny teased with a smile.

“Goddammit Ken,” Kyle whined and covered his face with his sheet. Kenny was such an asshole.

 

* * *

 

Kyle woke up startled. He fell asleep under his sheets. A quick check showed that both Kenny and Stan were fast asleep. Kyle grabbed his phone to check the time.

11:43 pm

He could make it.

Careful not to wake the guys, he tiptoed out of his room, softly closing the door behind. His heart was beating fast and his legs felt wobbly. In the bathroom, he quickly changed into his old clothes and left his pjs under the sink.

There was no way he was walking there so late, he had to take his car. It was parked outside and from experience, he knew his parents had never noticed when he hag snuck out in the middle of the night to meet with Kenny and Stan. Even so, when he turned on the car, Kyle felt like he could puke from the stress of being caught.

The lights in the house never turned on, so he drove away. He memorized the address, it was a place on the edge of town. As he drove, he kept thinking about how crazy this whole thing was. Mysterion just asked to research some names, but he was instead putting himself right into the field. Kyle couldn't let this opportunity pass and he had no way of contacting the vigilante.

It was simple. He would get there, fake interest in joining and after the meeting was over, he would never return. Kyle could also prep his phone to record the meeting while hidden inside his jacket.

The drive wasn’t too long, one of the few perks of living at South Park. The place was more isolated than Kyle thought and leaving his car, he started to regret going in the first place. Not many cars were parked, maybe more people would arrive later.

Kyle walked towards the building and was immediately startled by chanting. His heart beat faster. He approached the place slowly, no one else was outside. The grass under his feet sounded wet as he steps on it and everything just reminded him of the beginning of a horror movie.

“Nothing bad is going to happen. You can do this,” he mumbled to himself.

The chants grew louder and Kyle noticed they were coming from inside. There was a window that was slightly open, making the chants escape to the outside. He could take a peek and if things looked too creepy, he could walk away and pretend this had never happened.

_Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn_

The noise grew louder as he neared the window. Kyle kneeled  near the window and slowly looked inside. The place was beyond creepy. There were black candles lit all around the place and a group of people dressed in black robes forming a circle. Their eyes were closed as they each held a black candle and chant. There were three man up front, two of them were also holding candles while the one in the middle stood in front of a pedestal that had a book placed on top.

Kyle then noticed what looked like a goat head perched on the wall behind him. He couldn't detail their faces, their hoods were casting shadows on them. This was strange and maybe even dangerous, but he couldn't find the will to move.

Instead of going inside, he stayed there and spied on them from outside. There still wasn’t anyone outside, so the place most certainly lacked security. Kyle pulled out his phone and opened the recording app. The group was still chanting. He had to record this so he could translate it later at his place.

Kyle didn't know for how long he stayed there, listening to them chant and recording. The chant stopped and he tried to peek in again to see what they were doing. The man in the podium, who seemed to be their leader, began talking.

It was hard to understand what he was saying, Kyle only understood certain words. Hopefully, the recording would be better, but he doubted that.

“What do you think you’re doing boy?” A voice from behind asked.

He felt his heart stop. Slowly, he turned around and faced a man wearing robes like the people inside. From what he managed to see from his face in the dark, the man looked furious.

Kyle tried to answer, but nothing came out so he ran. The man followed him and Kyle was glad he joined the basketball team freshman year because he easily outran the man and entered the woods. The man’s footstep sounded close behind him. If he got deeper into the trees, he would without a doubt get lost.

He took a sharp turn and tried to hide behind one of the large trees. The man was very close, Kyle could hear his steps slowing down and looking around. He was so concentrated on the robed man, he didn't notice until someone grabbed him and pulled him to another tree nearby.

His heart almost jumped out of his chest, when he noticed it was Mysterion. Before Kyle could say anything, Mysterion placed a gloved finger on his lips, effectively silencing him. The vigilante had his other arm wrapped around his waist and suddenly pulled Kyle with him to hide behind another tree.

The robed man was near, his steps grew closer. Mysterion was scoping the area and Kyle wondered if he felt how fast his heart was beating. His throat felt dry from running in the cold. This was a horrible idea, but how did Mysterion find him?

The footsteps started getting further away from them.

“You came in your car?” Mysterion asked, his gruff voice sounding softer than normal. Kyle simply nodded in response. “Follow me.”

Mysterion pulled him through the forest until they arrived to where he parked the car. Kyle noticed his car was the only one there now, where did everyone go?

“Car keys.” It took him a few seconds to realize Mysterion was asking for them. Kyle didn¿t think twice before he dug them out of his pocket and handed them.

He got in the passenger sit and fastened his seat belt. His heart wouldn't stop beating. Normally, he would object to have a stranger drive his car, but Kyle couldn't drive in this state.

Mysterion drove out of the place. “What the hell were you thinking?” he asked, clearly irritated.

“I-I is just,” Kyle muttered.

“You have no idea how much danger you were in.”

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to help.” Tears burned in his eyes.

“Kyle, you can’t do this.”

“I had to, I had no way of contacting you and this is the only chance I had of finding some hard proof and…”

“There will be plenty of chances in the future,” Mysterion interrupted. “Your life is not worth it.”

Kyle was silent.

“I know you have some shit going on in your life, but don’t be wreckful.”

“How did you know I was there?” It suddenly dawned on Kyle that he hadn’t told anyone where he would be.

“I went over to your place.”

“Oh god, where Stan and Kenny up? Did they notice I was gone?!” Shit. He fucked up. How was he going to explain this?

“They were outside when I got there, I overheard them saying you had disappeared,” he explained. “I snuck into your room and found the address scribbled on your notes.”

“Oh shit. They are going to kill me. I can’t explain this to them.”

Mysterion stopped the car, they were a few blocks away from his place. Kyle looked at him, wondering why the hell he stopped. The vigilante brought his hand close to Kyle’s face and rubbed his thumb against his cheek. Kyle was startled by the gesture until he noticed that it was covered in blood.

“What?” He touched his own face a feels a scrape on his cheek. “I didn’t even feel this.”

“The adrenaline sometimes numbs the pain.”

“I’m dead, how can I explain this to them?”

“Tell them the truth,” Mysterion stated.

Kyle furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Mysterion unbelievingly. “You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?”

“They are your friends, so I trust them.”

“But I thought…” Even if Kyle were to tell Kenny and Stan, they probably wouldn’t believe him. “Isn’t this supposed to be a secret?

He started driving again and Kyle noticed he was chewing his bottom lip. “Kyle, I asked a lot from you. Investigating this cult isn’t something easy and now I’ve even put your life at risk.”

“I risked it myself, you would have never asked me-“

“Nevertheless,” he interrupted. “This happened because of me, I involved you and now I don’t know what might happen. That man saw your face.”

Fear instantly filled Kyle, he felt a small tremble go through his spine. “I-I didn’t think about that. I’m fucked.”

“You’re not fucked, I’ll protect you.” There was a sentiment in the way Mysterion said it that made Kyle trust him.

They were nearing Kyle’s house. He couldn just picture Stan and Kenny screaming at him, asking questions he couldn't answer.

Mysterion parked in the driveway and turned off the engine. “Tell them the truth, if they’re really your friends, they’ll believe you.”

Telling them filled him with a sense of dread. “Are you sure that’s okay?”

He smiled, it was warm and unsettling due to his current attire. “I trust you Kyle.”

“I think your personality is bleeding again,” Kyle joked and immediately felt the tense air dissipate when Mysterion chuckled.

They both exited the car and Mysterion handed him the keys. “I’ll be back tomorrow. You can tell me anything you learned today.”

Kyle nodded. “Thank you, I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t got there on time.”

“There’s no need to thank me.” He watched from the car as Kyle walked into his house.

When he entered his house, Kyle took some time to analyze his surroundings. If his parents had found out, they would surely be up and around. Hell, the police would probably be here already. Instead, there was just darkness and quiet. Stan and Kenny hadn’t woken them up yet, he assumed. A sense of dread filled his insides.

He walked towards his room and noticed the lights were on from the crack under the door.

Time to face them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no internet today, so next chapter is almost finished as well. I think I might start posting as soon as I finish, insead of waiting until Monday like I have done before. What do you think?


	5. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can explain it,” he said, resting his own hand on top of Kenny’s.  
> “You really don’t have to, not right now Ky.”  
> “Kenny,” Stan intervened. “What the fuck? Kyle just up and left us in the middle of the night and you don’t want to know why.”  
> “I do Stan but look at him. Don’t you think he’s had enough for one night?”

Kyle knew for certain he had never felt fear like how he had felt it tonight. Yes, he had lived in South Park his entire life and had experienced his fair share of the bizarre. Unlike today, he had always had company. His friends and family had always been there to support him, to fight along him, to not make him feel alone. But today, as he ran through the woods, feeling like his legs were going to give out at any moment from how much they trembled and his throat dry from the cold, he thought for sure his life would be over.

Even after feeling such terror, the look Stan gave him when he opened his bedroom door almost made him throw up. Just knowing that he had to come clean and that there might be a chance that Stan, the person he valued the most, would think he was crazy. It was unsettling.

“Kyle?” Stan mumbled, as if he didn't believe it was actually him.

Kyle closed the door softly and stepped inside. Stan was sitting on his bed and was looking at his phone before Kyle entered. “Stan, I’m so s-“

Before Kyle finished, Stan jumped from the bed and wrapped his arms around him. “I was so worried.”

The scent of Stan reached his nostrils and Kyle just loved him so much. That was why he did it, thinking he could keep his mind away from this. Look how it had turned out. It just kept getting worse. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say.

“You idiot. Dude, what were you thinking?” Stan held him tightly. His voice was mellow, as it always was when he worried too much. Kyle really scared him and of course he was concerned. He just thought about how angry he would be, but they were best friends, he would obviously worry.

“Stan, I… I don’t know.” His eyes were burning for the second time that night, he returned the hug and buried his face in Stan’s shoulder. “I’m an idiot, an asshole.”

Stan pulled him away and held his face with his hands. “You have to tell us what’s going on man. When I woke up and couldn’t find you... You have no idea all the fucked up scenarios I came up with. And Kenny, dude, I’ve never seen him like that.”

“Kenny?” Kyle asked, he managed to free himself from Stan’s grip, which was a relief, and looked around his room. “Where’s Kenny?”

“I don’t know, he grabbed his phone and said he was going to look for you,” Stan replied. “I think he’s just wandering the streets or something.”

“What? Why?”

“Why do you think? You were gone Kyle.”

He was such an asshole. Why did he ever think he could get away with this?

“I better call him, tell him you’re back.”

Kyle nodded and remembered his own phone. He took it out of his jacket and sat on his bed. To his surprise, the device was still recording. He immediately paused it and saved it. Not only did it contain the recording from the cult, but it probably had some of his conversation with Mysterion. If he was going to tell them about the vigilante, he was going to need some hard proof. He also noticed what seemed like hundreds of missed calls from both Stan and Kenny, as well as millions of texts from Stan. The recording app had silenced them. He felt like such a jerk.

“…I don’t know dude, but he’s here now so just come,” Kyle heard Stan say to his phone.

It was 3 am already. When had time passed? He was tired, but there was no way Kenny or Stan were going to let him sleep until he gave them some sort of explanation. Would they even believe him?

_Tell them the truth, if they are really your friends, they’ll believe you._

Mysterion’s words rung inside his head. He was right, but it still wasn’t so simple.

“He says he’s not far away, he will be here soon,” Stan informed him and sat next to Kyle. “I hope you know you’re not getting out of this easy.”

“I know, I’ll tell you both everything.”

There was silence until Kenny arrived minutes later. He entered the room silently and his eyes immediately went to Kyle. Kyle gave him a small smile and Kenny was on him in an instant.

“Kenny…”

“Don’t,” he muttered as he held him tightly. “You don’t have to say anything.” Kyle nodded and wrapped an arm around him. Kenny was trembling. It was as if he had been bottling up so many emotions and in that moment, they were all coming out. They stayed like that for minutes, until Kenny finally pulled away and looked into Kyle’s face.

He pressed his thumb on his cheek and traced a small line, a gesture very similar to the one Mysterion had done what seemed like hours ago. Kyle realized he was tracing under the cut he managed to get while running through the woods.

“I can explain it,” he said, resting his own hand on top of Kenny’s.

“You really don’t have to, not right now Ky.”

“Kenny,” Stan intervened. “What the fuck? Kyle just up and left us in the middle of the night and you don’t wanna know why.”

“I do Stan but look at him. Don’t you think he’s had enough for one night?”

“Had enough? What about us?”

“Ken, it's fine,” Kyle interjected. “I want to tell you guys everything now.”

“Are you sure? You don’t have to.”

“Fucking shit Kenny, what the hell?”

“No, really it’s okay.” Kyle didn't want them to keep fighting. He had already made up his mind.

“Fine.” Kenny removed his jacket and sat on the upper part of Kyle’s bed, leaning against his pillow. “But at least get comfortable. You look fucking tired.”

“Kinda hard when you’re all over my pillow,” Kyle told him mockingly, but was surprised when Kenny patted his own lap. “Dude. Come on.” Kenny patted it again. “Okay, fine.” He crawled towards Kenny and accommodated his head on his lap. “Happy?”

“You have no idea,” Kenny replied with a small smile.

Stan sat in the bed as well, resting his back to the wall. “Well then…”

Kyle took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay so, some days ago Mysterion showed up in my room.”

“Mysterion? Seriously Kyle?” Stan asked with doubt.

“Go on Ky,” Kenny interceded, patting Kyle’s head and sending a death glare to Stan.

“Umm… Yeah, I know it’s hard to believe. I have proof though, in case.” Kyle was nervous, he knew Stan wouldn’t believe it. “I’ll get to that later.”

“Why did he show up in your room?” Kenny asked, he was playing with Kyle’s hair which was very relaxing. Especially due to his current situation.

“Well he wanted help researching some people. He gave me a list and asked me if I would be willing to look up information about them.” He stared at the ceiling, it was hard to face his friends while telling everything.

“Why you?” Stan seemed very hesitant, but for now it looked like he wanted to go along with his story.

“I’m still not quite sure myself. He said he needed someone with the right skills that he could trust. I suggested Jimmy and even Wendy, told him that he’s probably better off with them when it came to researching for shit, but he insisted it had to be me.”

“Wait, someone he trusts?” Stan interrupted. “Why would he trust you?”

“Apparently, he knows me…”

“Knows you? From where?”

“Stan, dude, let the man finish the story.” Kenny seemed very irritated at Stan’s behavior, which was odd. He was being very comprehensive of Kyle, even after the shit he had just pulled, which was even odder.

“It’s okay Kenny, you guys can ask me questions.” Kenny nodded, but Kyle knew he wasn’t having it. “He hasn’t confirmed it, but I believe he’s someone in our school. Probably in our grade.”

“What makes you think that?” Stan looked at Kenny defiantly, but the blond didn't even glance at him, just played with Kyle’s curls.

“It’s just things he said, about knowing me my whole life. It’s hard to do that if you’re not in school with us. He’s also young, I noticed that having him here.” Stan nodded, accepting his answer. “Anyways…”

Kyle told them about everything that happened since, which really wasn’t too much. Stan asked a lot of questions when he was telling them about the night that Mysterion arrived injured. Kenny was silent the whole time, just playing with Kyle’s hair and occasionally patting his head when he started getting nervous about Stan’s questions.

Then he explained what happened today and Kyle saw rage in Stan’s eye.

“Are you fucking shitting me dude?! Are you insane?!”

“Dude. Back off.” Kenny was very chill, speaking softly.

“Are you hearing this Kenny? Cause it seems like you’re not. Kyle could be seriously injured right now.”

“But he’s not and that’s what matters.”

“I know I was an idiot okay? I just had to go, I can’t really explain why. I just had to.”

Kenny gave him a sad smile, he knew exactly why Kyle had done it. Kenny just knew everything about Kyle it seemed. “Ky, it’s cool. Sometimes I do that too, you know? Get very emotional about some shit and then do something reckless and stupid.”

Stan snorted. “What the fuck is up with you Kenny? You’ve been coddling him all night. He needs to hear the truth a-”

“…And this is the truth.”

“Fine! Whatever, you keep doing what you’re doing. Let Kyle go around fighting crime or whatever with his superhero friend. When he gets killed, we’ll see what you do then.”

“Stan, don’t talk like I’m not here, okay?” Kyle was exasperated. He understood where Stan’s anger was coming from, but it still annoyed him that he was treating him like a child.

“Sure, whatever. For all we know, you’re lying about this and doing god knows what.”

“Stan,” Kenny warned.

Kyle didn't say anything, just pulled out his phone. He opened the recording and played the last one. Chanting started coming from the phone. “I accidentally recorded everything.” He skimmed through it quickly, until he found a place where Mysterion was speaking. “I don’t know how clear it is since the phone was in my jacket.”

 _“-no idea how much danger you were in.”_ The voice sounded low, predominated by the roaring of the car’s engine.

 _“I’m sorry, I just wanted to help.”_ His voice sounded louder, due to the proximity. 

_“Kyle, you can’t do this.”_

_“I had to, I had no way of contacting you and this is the only chance I got of finding some hard proof and…”_

_“There will be plenty of chances in the future. Your life is not worth it. I know you have some shit going on in your life, but don’t be wreckful.”_

_“How did you know I was there?”_

_“I went over to your place.”_

He paused the recording. That had to be enough.

Stan looked surprised and confused. “That’s really his voice?”

“Well yeah, I know it’s not the best quality.”

“Is that enough for you Stan?” Kenny asked. Stan nodded, looking away. Kyle had never seen both of them disagreeing so much, it was usually Kyle who was arguing with either of them. “Ky, I think you better get some rest.”

Kyle sat up and Kenny stood up from his bed. Stan followed. “Thank you for listening to me, I know it’s a lot.”

“It’s okay, just rest up for now,” Kenny said, as he smiled fondly.

Kyle accommodated himself and felt his body go limp with fatigue. Before he even knew it, he was fast asleep.

 

* * *

 

Stan watched silently as Kenny covered Kyle with a sheet and removed his shoes. Kyle must have been exhausted if he fell asleep shortly after putting his head on the pillow. Who could blame him after everything he went through?

The anger had mostly dissipated after he heard the recording and by now, he was just relived to see Kyle back on his bed. Stan knew he was kind of jerk, but he had been so worried for his best friend. The millions of scenarios that had popped in his head when he had discovered Kyle’s empty bed hadn’t helped either.

Kenny hadn’t been angry, he had been very calm and it irked Stan. He could be so complacent when it came to Kyle, there just had to be a limit. And this was supposed to be it. Instead, he had marched in and treated him like a puppy who could do no harm. Kenny had talked to him softly and played with his hair, like Kyle deserved it after everything he put them through.

It was even weirder because Kenny had looked insane when Stan woke him up. He had desperately looked everywhere in the house and it was his idea to look around outside. Stan told him it was crazy to go out looking for him so late, that they should wake his parents up, but Kenny just told him to go back to Kyle’s room and call him in case he returned. Who knew where he went afterwards.

Stan had never seen Kenny behave that way, he was mostly inappropriate flirting and bad jokes. Although now that he thought about it, Kenny always had a softer spot for Kyle. It was since they were kids, but it increased after his mother’s death. Kenny would always make sure Kyle was feeling well, he would give his hoodies to him if Kyle was cold or would trade plates if Kyle didn’t like what he ordered in a restaurant. It was almost like…

_No way._

Kenny moved his sleeping bag nearer to Kyle’s bed and layed on top of it, facing him. The way he was looking at Kyle. The way he treated Kyle now and always. Kenny was scared, maybe the most scared he had ever been. It was obvious to Stan now. He had been so frightened that just seeing Kyle back and safe was enough.

He felt his jaw drop and that was when Kenny noticed him still standing there, gawking at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Kenny are you…”

Kenny sat up and looked at him questioningly.

“Do you…” he rephrased. “Do you like Kyle?”

His face went red and he tried to cover it with both of his hands. Stan remembered Kenny as a kid completely zipping up his parka whenever he was flustered or uncomfortable. “Am I that obvious?” It was said so softly, Stan wasn’t even sure he heard right.

Stan walked closer and sat near Kenny. The confirmation made his heart race. Why hadn’t he seen it earlier? “I don’t think, I mean... I never noticed before. It’s just today you were…”

“I was so scared Stan,” he confessed. “I’m just glad he’s here and safe.”

“Dude, this is huge.” He didn’t even known Kenny was interested in guys. It was very surprising, after all the girls he gloated about. “I’m guessing Kyle has no idea.”

Kenny nodded. “And he never will.”

“What? Why not?”

“Is not like he can return my feelings…”

Stan sighed. “How can you know that? Kyle is the only one of us who has never dated anyone. Maybe there’s a reason for that.”

“Even if he’s into guys, I’ll never be good enough for him Stan,” Kenny explained.

“That’s stupid. Why the hell would you say that?”

He never considered Kenny an insecure guy, but now with his red cheeks, hand trying to cover his eyes and the softness of his voice, Stan saw everything he failed to in the past years. Kenny really thought he wasn’t good enough for someone like Kyle.

“Ken, man, you’re a great guy…”

“Don’t do this Stan,” Kenny warned. “I know what you’re going to say, but I’m really not. Dude Kyle is… He’s way out of my league.”

Stan scrunched his nose. “And why do you say that?”

Kenny looked over at Stan like he was crazy for asking that. “He’s smart, like way too smart. I mean, he has the top marks in our class and he’s good at almost anything he does. I’m white trash who got a little lucky with some money.”

“Wow dude, that’s Cartman talking,” Stan worried. “Kenny, you’re pretty smart too. You’re smart in ways Kyle isn’t, actually.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Okay so yeah, Kyle has book smarts. He reads and studies a lot, it makes sense. But you man, you are a strategist. That’s not something you learn easily by reading a book.”

Kenny was an amazing strategist. Even when they were kids, Kenny’s plans were always the best. And it wasn’t only when they were going on their crazy adventures, whenever they played videogames in co-op, Kenny would always organize them in such a way that they were unbeatable. It was pretty amazing.

“You’re also surprisingly athletic considering you are not part of any team at school,” Stan continued. Kenny had never been interested in joining any of the sports team. Stan had tried to get him into football and Kyle into basketball, but he would go to a few practices and then never show up again. Funny thing was that whenever either of them needed a substitute because someone on their team was injured or otherwise indisposed, Kenny was always there to fill the spot. He was amazing at it too. Like he had always been part of the team.

Stan noticed that Kenny was smiling. “Kyle’s pretty athletic too. I mean he rules at basketball even though he’s one of the shortest in the team.”

They both laughed. “He has always loved playing, good thing Cartman’s word just flew past him.”

“Well they didn’t at first, but that’s something I think we all rather forget.”

“Anyways, it’s not like any of that matters dude. You guys have so much in common, you have so much history together and I doubt Kyle is a pretentious snob that would look down on you cause you’re not a straight A student.”

“I guess…” Kenny muttered, his smile was sad Stan noticed. “It doesn’t matter anyway because he…” There was a pause and Kenny looked away. “Never mind.”

“He likes someone else?” Kenny didn't say anything, which sort of confirmed it for Stan. He always had his suspicions that there was someone Kyle liked. “Do you know for sure?”

“Kinda.”

“Really? He really likes someone? Who?” It was very strange for Stan to get two right in one night. He wasn’t always in tune with other people’s feelings.

Kenny was still looking away, but Stan saw he was no longer smiling. “I wish I could tell you. Kyle would kill me if I did.”

Stan was hurt. He thought he and Kyle were best friends and yet, he told Kenny about his crush instead of him.

“He didn’t tell me by the way,” Kenny said, as if he had read Stan’s thoughts. “I sorta figured it out and told him. He was so pissed, I thought he was gonna kill me.”

“You figured it out?”

Now Kenny looked at him. “It isn’t the most obvious thing in the world, but if you look close enough then it’s not that hard.”

That was definitely a clue, he just had to look harder. Now that he thought about it, Kyle seemed to be hurting. He recalled Mysterion’s words from the recording.

_“I know you have some shit going on in your life, but don’t be reckless.”_

“Hey Ken, is it by any chance that why Kyle’s has been looking like shit lately.”

Kenny nodded.

“And is he doing anything about it? I mean, besides chasing after fucked up cult members.”

He looked at Kyle, who was fast asleep. It was weird seeing Kenny so open about his emotions. “Not really, I tried to tell him to do something, but he won’t have it. The thing is this person isn’t really interest in him.”

“Why not? Why would someone not be interested in him?” Stan asked, a bit of anger in his voice. Kyle was a great guy, anyone would be lucky to date him.

Kenny looks him dead in the eyes. “That person is kind of dating someone else.”

_Oh._

“That sucks,” Stan said softly.

“I told him he should find someone else, even if it’s just for a distraction…”

“That seems like a good idea.”

“He told me he isn’t me,” Kenny finished bitterly. There was a lot of pain in Kenny’s face, his brows were furrowed and he was biting his bottom lip. “Figures Kyle would think of me like that.”

_Oh._

Stan was an idiot.

 

* * *

 

Kyle woke up to an empty bedroom. He stretched in bed, while his sight cleared up. There were two sleeping bags neatly rolled next to his bed. That was how he remembered Kenny and Stan had slept over.

“Shit,” he muttered, remembering last night’s events. Stan had been so angry. He rubbed his eyes before deciding to see where the guys were.

Saturday mornings were usually lonely for Kyle. His father worked until 4 and his mother took Ike to Denver for some advanced classes.

As he neared the kitchen, he started smelling what were probably pancakes. Indeed, inside the kitchen Kenny was flipping pancakes while Stan mixed batter. It was an odd site.

“I hope Stan isn’t doing any of the actual cooking,” Kyle joked, as he entered the kitchen.

They both turned around. “Hey, I’ve only burned our food once!” Stan defended himself, slowly mixing the batter.

“Twice actually,” Kenny countered, setting golden pancakes into a neat stack on large plate. Kenny was a very good cook, especially when it came to breakfast food. All the years making food for Karen and himself had been rewarding. Stan on the other hand…

“The barbecue wasn’t my fault.”

“It kind of was dude,” Kyle reckoned.

Stan shrugged and started mixing the batter rapidly. “Hey, don’t overmix that,” Kenny warned.

Kyle laughed and took a place in the table. While his parents had a big dining table outside, they recently bought a four place one for the kitchen. Ike and Kyle were the only ones that used it for breakfast and late dinners.

“How are you feelin’ Ky?”  Kenny asked. He wore that goofy, lazy smile that always made Kyle feel at ease. It was how, in his opinion, Kenny should always look.

“Better, I guess. Rested.” He did feel better, his eyes didn't feel as heavy as they had this past week. His legs hurt a tad, but since he was used to basketball practice, it would probably be gone by nighttime.

Stan handed the batter to Kenny, who proceeded to cook more pancakes. “Kyle, I’m sorry I was so hard on you last night,” Stan apologized. He went to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice and began serving it on glasses. “I was worried and went a bit too far. I do believe everything you told us and I would like to help you out in anything you need.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Kyle mumbled. He tried playing it cool, but his friends probably saw the relief on his face.

 

* * *

 

Monday morning felt different for Kyle. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it felt that way. He waited for Mysterion to show up after Stan and Kenny left his place, but he never did. He hadn’t Sunday night either. Kyle recalled him saying that he would return to check on his findings.

He sat next to Stan on homeroom, who appeared to be texting.

“Hey man,” Kyle greeted.

“Kenny’s sick,” Stan informed. “And hey.”

“Oh, so he’s not coming?” Kyle asked, although he knew it was obvious.

“He came after he dropped off Karen, met him in the entrance.” Stan kept texting as he talked, which made him phrase everything slower. “He looked like shit.”

Kyle immediately pulled out his phone and looked for Kenny’s contact.

_Kyle: Next time you’re sick, I can pick up Karen and take her to school._

He stared at his text and felt bad for sounding so rude after everything he did for him.

_Kyle: Also, hope you feel better. I’ll take her home._

“Did your superhero friend show up last night?” Stan asked, finally looking away from his phone.

“No, I hope he’s alright.”

Kyle saw that Stan was still bitter about the whole Mysterion ordeal.

“I’m sure he’s just been busy,” Kyle added.

“Ah yes, fighting crime and shit.” Sarcasm was dripping from every word.

“You know what Stan? You were fawning over him not even a week ago.”

“A week ago, I didn’t know he was an asshole who almost got my best friend killed.”

“Dude, that was my fault,” Kyle interjected. “I’m the asshole.”

“Whatever,” Stan muttered and went back to his phone.

“I thought we were okay with this…” At least that was what it seemed like on Saturday morning.

“I’m never going to be okay with you being in danger.” Who was Stan even texting so much? “So, since Ken’s not here, want to sit with Wendy and her friends at lunch?”

Figured she was the one who had him texting more than normal. “Wendy and her friends? You mean, the girls?”

“They are not all girls, but yeah…”

“I don’t know Stan…” It wasn't like he didn't like Wendy and the other girls, they werecool. Seeing Stan and Wendy together hurt and he hadn’t been in the best place emotionally. It just seemed like a bad idea.

“Come on Kyle, it might be fun.” Fun for him maybe. And what was it with him being angry with the whole Mysterion thing one second and trying to persuade Kyle into sitting at Wendy’s table the next.

“If you want to sit with Wendy, that’s fine dude,” Kyle told him. “I’ll sit with someone else.” It hurt to see the way Stan’s eyes shone at the prospect.

His phone vibrated, a text from Kenny.

_Kenny: you really dontt have to dude i can pick her up but thank you_

It always annoyed Kyle how horrible Kenny texted, his phone had autocorrect for God’s sake.

_Kyle: Don’t even try, I’m taking her home. It’s not up for discussion._

Stan continued texting with Wendy and Kyle doodled in his notebook. A few minutes later, another text arrived.

_Kenny: thank you_

 

* * *

 

At lunch time, Stan eagerly took his lunch and sat with Wendy and the girls. Kyle was once again invited, but still refused. He scanned the tables looking for somewhere to sit when he spotted something odd.

Craig was sitting all alone. He usually sat with his group of friends, Token, Clyde and Tweek. Scanning some more, he saw that the three of them were sitting together as usual. Had they had a fight or something?

Kyle slowly walked towards Craig’s table.

“Mind if I join you?” Kyle requested.

Craig raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, the Cryle commences. Brace yourselves!


	6. Experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Jerks want me to quit smoking,” Craig replies. “Like I even smoke around them.”
> 
> “Oh, I didn’t know you smoked.”
> 
> “That’s cause I’m not an asshole who smokes around everyone, I do that in private.”
> 
> Kyle smiles. Sometimes he forgets that Craig is a pretty decent guy under his cold persona. They finish lunch with time to spare and not much to talk about.
> 
> “I’m going out for a smoke, you can come if you don’t mind,” Craig informs him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for taking so long to update. I got super sick out of nowhere and had a very hard time concentrating on anything. I wish this chapter was longer, but I wanted to give and update since its been so long.

For not being that close to Craig, Kyle knew a whole lot about him. They had gone from kind of friends when they were young to casual friends as they grew older. Also, living in a small town meant you knew more than you wanted about almost everyone. But Kenny randomly becoming really close with him was probably what gave him most of the inside knowledge.

Kyle especially remembered when he started dating Tweek when they were kids. It had been such a shock to him at that time. They dated for a few years, but broke up in middle school and confessed that it had all been a sham. Everyone was pretty upset, but not as much as the first breakup. They had remained best friends ever since, sometimes even Kyle forgot they weren’t dating anymore.

They ate for a while in silence, Kyle not sure how to initiate a conversation at first. Eventually he decided to ask why the hell he was sitting alone and not with his usual group of friends.

“Jerks want me to quit smoking,” Craig replied. “Like I even smoke around them.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you smoked.”

“That’s cause I’m not an asshole who smokes around everyone, I do that in private.”

Kyle smiled. Sometimes he forgot that Craig was a pretty decent guy under his cold persona. They finished lunch with time to spare and not much to talk about.

“I’m going out for a smoke, you can come if you don’t mind,” Craig informed him.

He never smoked again after that one time the Butt Out guys came to school and scared the shit out of them. Kyle remembered hating it, but that had been a really long time ago.

 

* * *

 

Craig offered Kyle a cigarette as they both stood in the back parking lot of their school. He rejected it, but didn't budge when Craig lit his and began smoking. There was something he had been wanting to ask Craig, maybe for a longer time that what he would admit.

“Hey Craig, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he started. Kyle wasn’t even sure he was going to be able to phrase the question. Craig was looking at him intently, his dark eyes had always intimidated him. For a moment, Kyle wondered if Craig was Mysterion using contacts. No one else had eyes like Craig's in South Park, it would be a dead giveaway if he didn’t hide them.

“So, what is it?” Craig asked, taking another drag from his cigarette.

Kyle bit his lip. “How did your parents react when you started dating Tweek?” Craig narrowed his eyes, making Kyle’s heart beat faster. “I mean, like, did they say anything about you being… you know, gay?”

“Why do you want to know that?”

Kyle was silent, he was not sure how to answer that. He had never said it out loud before, even though he’d known for years.

“I understand it’s hard,” Craig added, surprising Kyle.

Kyle looked away. “How can you know? You aren’t really gay, you were just pretending.”

Craig took a long drag out of his cigarette. “Nobody really knows or asks, but I am.”

“What?” Kyle blurted out. “Wait, then why did you break up with Tweek?”

“Just because I’m gay, doesn’t mean he is,” Craig answered bitterly. “We were better cut to be best friends anyways.”

Kyle was silent, not sure what to say to that. He watched as Craig took one final drag out of his cigarette.

“Who else knows about you?”

“Kenny,” Kyle answered. “He found out on his own.”

Craig nodded. “I think he knows about me too.”

“Fucking Kenny knows everything,” Kyle commented. “I mean when he found out I liked…” He stopped, shit, he almost said it.

“You liked who?”

Kyle’s face felt hot, he was so careless. “Umm… No one?”

Craig smirked. “Is it Marsh?”

If possible, Kyle’s face went even redder. “How does everyone just seem to know that?”

He laughed softly, Kyle had never seen Craig laugh before. “I just guessed.”

His mouth fell open. “You guessed?”

“I mean, he’s the closest guy to you other than Kenny. And since he is the one who found out,” Craig explained with a smirk. “I’m not telling anyone.”

“Thank you,” Kyle said softly. “I don’t know what I will do if he ever finds out.”

“What? You think he will react badly?”

“Well yeah,” Kyle mumbled. “We’ve been friends since forever, he would be completely weirded out.”

Craig looked away, his face was back to being serious. “It’s easier if you find a distraction, something to keep your mind off thinking about him. It works most of the times.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow, his mouth trying to form words that were not coming easily. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” he said, but there was something else. The way Craig said it, it made him think that. “You said Tweek didn’t like you, but… Do you like him?”

The bell rang.

Craig looked at him with his dark black eyes, causing a chill to go down Kyle’s back. It was true then, he had feelings for Tweek.

“See you around,” Craig muttered and left through the door they came in.

 

* * *

 

Kyle always took Stan home after school, even when they had practice. Sometimes, they stopped by Tweek’s or went to the mall. Today, in their last period, Stan informed him that Wendy was taking him home. Wasn’t it enough that they had lunch together? Was that how things were going to be from now on?

He also received a text from Kenny.

_Kenny: feeling better picking up karen after school_

_Kenny: going grocery shopping_

_Kenny: thanks for offering_

Kyle read the messages a few time, before he thought of something.

_Kyle: Ok dude, its fine. Glad you're feeling better.  
_

_Kyle: By the way, can you send me Craig’s number?_

Kenny was obviously interested by that, he responded almost immediately.

_Kenny: tucker? why do you want craig tuckers number??!?!?!?_

Kyle smiled. He looked over at the teacher and the man was still sitting in his desk, going over some papers, while the rest of them were supposed to be doing some silent reading.

_Kyle: Yes, I just need to ask him something. I’ll explain later._

Once again, it wasn’t long before Kenny replied.

_Kenny: better be juicy ky_

_Kenny sent a contact_

Kyle quickly saved it on his phone. If he remembered correctly, Craig always rode with Token after school. Now that they were not on speaking terms, Craig would probably have to walk home. That was where Kyle came in.

_Kyle: Hey, its Kyle._

_Kyle: I was wondering if you wanted a ride home._

Kyle felt stupid after sending it. There were a million better ways he could have phrased that. He chewed on his bottom lip, waiting for a reply. Stan was sitting next to him, texting as well. He didn't even seem to notice the internal turmoil his best friend was having as he wrote happily to Wendy. 

His phone vibrated and once again, Kyle felt his heart beating faster. Why couldn't he be normal instead of an anxious mess?

_Craig: Sure_

He figured Craig wasn’t much for texting or maybe he just didn't want to text with Kyle in particular.  Craig was probably bothered by their whole conversation at lunch, Kyle was such an idiot. These things were touchy and private, just because he wanted to ask questions, didn't mean Craig wanted to answer them.

 

* * *

 

Stan and Kyle hung by their lockers after class, fortunately, they were only three lockers apart. They chatted aimlessly, Kyle almost forgetting they weren’t riding together.

“Ready to go?” Craig said from behind, startling Kyle. He had a smirk on his face.

“Yeah,” Kyle responded with a smile.

“You’re leaving with Craig?” Stan blurted out, he looked confused.

“Umm… Yeah? I offered since you’re going with Wendy.”

“I didn’t know you and Craig were friends?” Stan whispered.

Even though Stan tried to be inconspicuous, Craig obviously heard and rolled his eyes. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Kyle nodded slowly and looked back at Stan. “Couldn’t be any more obvious?”

“I’m sorry, but dude, Craig? Are you serious? He’s such a jerk.”

Kyle never understood why Stan hated Craig so much. Every time Kenny brought him up in a conversation, he rolled his eyes and asked him how he could be friends with such a jerk. It didn’t make any sense, especially because sometimes he was just fine with him. As far as Kyle remembered, they were sort of friends when they were younger. They had even been in the PlayStation side together during the console wars.

“I don’t know what you have against Craig, but he’s not a jerk,” Kyle commented. “At least not to me.”

“What do you mean? Craig has always been a jerk.”

“According to you, Kenny seems to think he’s cool. Besides, I’ve seen you talking with him just fine about Mysterion.”

Stan rolled his eyes. “You know what? Whatever, I’m gonna go find Wendy.”

Kyle grunted exasperated. Stan was such an asshole sometimes. He walked, or more like stomped to the entrance, where Craig was leaning against the wall, looking at his phone.

“Hey, I’m sorry for that,” Kyle apologized.

Craig looked over to Kyle, putting his phone in his front pocket. “It’s okay, I know he doesn’t like me.”

They started walking towards Kyle’s car side by side. “You have any idea why?”

He sighted. “Because he’s an idiot who think I tried to steal Wendy from him or something like that.”

“Why the hell would he think that?” Kyle asked, laughing.

They were nearing Kyle’s car already. “Long story short, I asked Wendy out a week after I broke up with Tweek.”

“What?” Kyle unlocked his car and they both got in. “Why the hell did you ask Wendy out?” Kyle asked once inside the car.

Craig smiled, while putting on his seat belt. “When I broke up with Tweek, I had this stupid need to prove people I was straight,” he began. “So I thought, hey, who’s the hottest girl in our class?”

“And you thought Wendy?”

“No, I had no idea. So I asked Clyde. He obviously said Bebe, but I couldn’t ask her out cause they were dating. So I asked who is the second hottest and he said Wendy.”

Kyle laughed. “You wanted to prove your straightness, yet you had no idea who the hottest girl was. Impressive.”

“I have to admit, it was incredibly dumb, but you have to understand that I really thought I was straight,” Craig explained, the smile never leaving his face. Kyle surprised himself by thinking he looked good smiling. “I asked out Wendy and she politely declined saying she wasn’t interested in dating anyone at the time. Was a bit relieved. Anyways, word got to Stan and he was not happy.”

“Figures,” Kyle commented, rolling his eyes. “And that was way before they started dating.”

“Exactly why I don’t understand why he’s still so angry about it.”

“That’s Stan, probably thinks you’re still into her or something.” It was typical Stan behavior. “When we were like 8, he got jealous that Wendy and I were paired together on that stupid egg project Garrison gave us. It was ridiculous.”

Craig laughed softly. “I remember that, you and Stan were later assigned as the gay couple.”

“Oh God, don’t even remind me of that shit,” Kyle said and laughed along. “Worst project of my life.”

They were so into the conversation, Kyle completely forgot he was supposed to be taking Craig home. It was when a car honked somewhere in the parking lot, that he remembered.

“Oh shit dude, I’m supposed to be driving,” Kyle stated, as he got his own sit belt on. Craig didn't say anything, just smirked. “I think this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk.”

“I think this I the first time I’ve talked so much in weeks,” Craig countered.

They exited the parking lot and Kyle started getting anxious. He had so many questions to ask Craig, but where did he even begin. Would Craig even want to answer any of them? He got more nervous as he drove, so he decided to just swallow all his worries and ask something.

“Is kissing a guy different than kissing a girl?” Kyle blurted out and then slapped himself mentally. Was that really the first question that came to his mind?

He heard Craig chuckle as he tried very hard not to look at him, but at the road, his face probably went red. “I like how you assume I’ve kissed both girls and guys.”

Kyle went even redder. “Well, have you? I mean, you kissed Tweek when you were dating? Right?” He noticed Craig blush from the corner of his eye. “So just Tweek?”

“Other guys too,” Craig mumbled. “Not any girls.”

“Oh,” Kyle said and smiled. “I guess that makes sense, you being gay and all. I just figured, maybe you kissed a girl before Tweek.”

“Tweek and I got together when we were 9, there really isn’t much 'before' time,” Craig tried to explain, but Kyle saw how flustered his lack of experience made him. “What? You dated many girls when we were 9?”

“Yes actually,” Kyle responded. “I kissed Rebecca and Bebe when we were 8 and dated Nicole and Natalie Portman, when we were 9.”

“Natalie Portman? Really?” Craig was obviously doubtful.

“Only once when I was working with the History Channel guys,” he explained. “Even got her to open her legs so the pilgrims could use her portal to return to their home planet and save Thanksgiving.”

There was a sly smile on Kyle’s face when he noticed Craig’s own. “You know what? I don’t need the details. You guys got into some weirdass bullshit when we were kids and I clearly remember telling you I wanted no part in any of that crap.”

Kyle laughed. He was close to Craig’s place already, one of the perks of living in a small town. He hated it this time though, chatting with Craig was refreshing. Especially since he didn't need to hide anything from him.

He parked the car in front of Craig’s place and unlocked the door. Kyle looked over to say goodbye, but Craig pressed his lips against his before he could utter a word. The initial shock had him still for a few seconds. Many thoughts rushed through his head, but finally, he managed to kiss back.

The kiss was soft and short, but Kyle felt butterflies in his stomach like never before. Afterwards, he felt his face hot and knew he was red.

“You can tell me tomorrow how different it is,” Craig said before exiting the vehicle. “Oh and thank you for the ride,” he added, before closing the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things:  
> First, I finally finished planning this whole story. I completely changed some of the key aspects, so the tags will probably change. Nothing too mayor though. I have two ideas on how Kyle is going to discover Mysterion's indentity, but I can't decide which fits best. Hopefully, as I write, things will get clearer.  
> Second, you can find me on tumblr as member-kenny. You can go there and talk to me about whatever you want and can even ask me if something's wrong when I haven't updated for a long time. I don't mind at all. If you decide to follow me, let me know you come from here so I can follow you back. I also ocasionally post South Park fanart, if you're into that.
> 
> That's all, thank you for reading, commenting and leaving kudos. They seriously give me life!


	7. Let's Try This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I don’t know man, I think I am?” Kyle responds. “I wasn’t sure, but then Craig kissed me and…”
> 
> “HE KISSED YOU?!” There’s an emotion in Kenny’s face Kyle can’t quite identify, something more than just shock.
> 
> “Umm… Yeah and I kinda kissed him back?” He doesn’t know why he phrased it like a question, but it was weird saying it out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. This is not my best work, but I still hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Update 10/21/17: If you noticed I haven't updated in months, there's an updated note about the status of this fanfic at the end. After the first note which is super long, sorry about that. I write long notes. Cause I can't shut up, like now.

Kyle repeated the recording for who knew what time now. It was clearer than he initially thought and he wanted to thank his parents for not getting him a shitty phone for his birthday. He spunaround on his chair and stops, facing his open window. It was 10 pm, Mysterion hadn’t come today either.

He briefly worried over him, his phone vibrating on his desk interrupted his thoughts.

_Kenny: soooooooooooooo are you gonna tell me bout craig ;)_

Well, Kenny probably wasn’t going to let that go so easily.

_Kyle: Fine, want me to call you or something?_

_Kenny: look outside your window_

Kyle quickly stood up and sprinted to his window. Standing there next to his house was Kenny, smiling and waving.

“What the hell Ken?” Kyle whispered. “It’s almost midnight.”

“It’s only 10 dude,” Kenny said.

“What are you doing here?”

“I missed you,” Kenny answered and winked.

Kyle rolled his eyes and slightly blushed. One of these days, Kenny was going to get him into so much trouble. It wasn’t the first time he just showed up at his place.

“Can I come in?” Kenny inquired with a big smile.

“Ken, if I open the door my parents are going to hear it.” Honestly, Kenny was crazy. Showing up so late on a school night, simply insane.

“No worries.” Kenny smirked in a way that made Kyle incredibly uneasy. What the hell was he going to do?

Kenny looked over at the tree next to his window. Kyle used to hate that tree when he was a kid because the branches would scratch the glass on his window at night. It scared the shit out of him.

“What are you going to do?” Kyle asked, but Kenny ignored him. To his surprise, Kenny very smoothly climbed up the three and reached one of the thicker branches near his window. “WHAT THE HELL KENNY?! ARE YOU INSANE??!!”

“Shhh… You’re going to wake up your parents,” Kenny told him. “Now come on, move away.”

Kyle stepped back and watched Kenny leap from the branch, to his windowsill, landing with bent knees on his feet flawlessly. He then sat on it and stretched his legs.

“’Sup?”

“’Sup?! Kenny, what the… How the hell did you do that? You’re like a fucking ninja.” When had Kenny even learned to do that? That looked straight out of a movie.

“Ninjas are gay Kyle,” he said and stood up, stretching his arms this time. He was just wearing a white t-shirt and an orange hoodie, with a pair of jeans. Kyle wondered how he never got cold. Or how he just did that stunt. “Last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid.”

Kyle went red. “Shut up, you’re going to get me into so much trouble. Weren't you supposed to be sick anyways?”

Kenny just smirked and threw himself over his bed. That was pretty much what he always did when he was in Kyle's room, he was used to it. “So, are you going to tell me why you asked me for Craig’s number?”

“Are you going to tell me how the hell you parkoured into my room?”

“I asked first,” Kenny countered. Kyle felt himself grow hot. Was he really going to tell him that they'd kissed? “I mean, I know Craig. He’s an asshole, well, he pretends to be an asshole.”

Kyle sat on his chair and started telling him everything.

“Wait? So you’re saying it now, you are gay?” Kenny interrupted when Kyle was telling him about the questions he had asked Craig.

“I don’t know man, I think I am?” Kyle responded. “I wasn’t sure, but then Craig kissed me and…”

“HE KISSED YOU?!” There was an emotion in Kenny’s face Kyle couldn't quite identify, something more than just shock.

“Umm… Yeah and I kinda kissed him back?” He didn't know why he phrased it like a question, but it was weird saying it out loud.

“Wow, you don’t go to school one day and this happens,” Kenny commented, whatever emotion was on his face was gone. It was replaced with a smile that didn't seem completely honest and Kyle was about to comment on it, but Kenny continued. “I thought if anyone was going to end up making out with Craig, it would be me.”

“You?” Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Why would that be? You’re not even gay.”

“Ky, please, do you know me at all? I don’t care if its boy or girl,” Kenny told him. “I’ve just been trying to proof he likes dick for a while, thank you for that by the way.”

“Oh god, I shouldn’t have told you that,” Kyle suddenly realized. “He told me no one else knew, oh fuck.”

“Dude, chill… Its Craig, he kinda loves me. Won’t admit to it, but I know he does.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well if he didn’t, then he would have punched me by now with the amount of times I’ve tried getting in his pants. He just shoves me away and grunts,” Kenny explained, like it was the most normal thing in the world. “That’s what I call love.”

Kyle laughed. “I can’t believe you never told me that.”

“I’m sure I’ve flirted with Craig in front of you.”

“You flirt with everyone Kenny.”

“You got me there,” Kenny said with a smile, this time, it was fonder. “I think you should date Craig, it can help you with your whole Stan problem.”

“I can’t date Craig,” Kyle said.

“Why not?”

“For starters, I’m positive he doesn’t like me.”

“He wouldn’t have kissed you if he didn’t like you at all,” Kenny said, running his hand through his hair. “It’s Craig dude, that guy avoids people at all cost.”

“He was just trying to show me something,” Kyle protested.

“Dude, once again, Craig… is Craig. I know him, okay?” Kenny sat up and stared at Kyle, maybe trying to convey how serious he was about this. “Don’t ever tell him I told you this, but that guy has some serious issues. He cares too much.”

“Cares too much?”

“Like take Tweek. Didn’t care shit about the guy, but then he’s forced to pretend to date him. Sometime later, completely head over heels.”

“Wait, you know that too?”

“I don’t know why that surprises you anymore Ky, I’m incredibly intuitive.”

And he was right, Kenny seemed to know everyone better than themselves. How did he do it?

“Anyways, Craig doesn’t like getting close to people because of that. He ends up caring too much about them. Clyde and Token, he pretends he doesn’t really care for them, but I’ve seen him wreak havoc for them.”

Kyle nodded. It madesense, but it was odd thinking of Craig like that.

“He wouldn’t even have invited you to smoke with him if he didn’t have some sort of interest in you, you have no idea how long it took me to break that shell of his.”

“Why did you do that anyways?” Kyle had always been curious about that.

“Honestly, it started out as a challenge,” Kenny told him. “When I first noticed he might like guys, I was very interested. Never been with someone taller than me.”

“Fuck Kenny, is that really all you think about?”

Kenny chuckled. “No, well, sometimes. But with Craig, I started flirting with him and it was fun, so I kept attempting it. Then one day, we just started talking about random shit. And bam! Friendship!”

“You’re kidding.”

“Well it wasn’t that instant, but it did happen like that.”

Kyle laughed. “I can’t believe you befriended Craig because you wanted to have sex with him.”

“Have you seen him? Dude, he’s like tall, bronzed and has eyes that look into your soul. Why wouldn’t I try it?” Kenny wiggled his eyebrows. “The two of you together would be like my fantasy threesome.”

Kyle threw an empty Dr. Pepper bottle that was laying on his desk at Kenny, hitting him square on the head.

“Ouch, dude! That hurt!!” he complained, rubbing his head.

“That’s what you get for being so sick.”

“I’m just saying things like they are.” Kenny winked at him and Kyle felt like throwing his whole computer at him. Kenny’s flirting had always made him feel weird and embarrassed.

 

* * *

 

As Kyle started his day, showering getting dressed and all that morning jazz, he couldn't help but go over his conversion with Kenny the previous night. Dating Craig seemed like an absurd idea, why would he even be interested in dating someone like Kyle.

While he ate his breakfast, cereal and toast, a text from Stan arrived.

_Stan: Taking my car to school and picking up Wendy_

_Stan: Want a ride too?_

Kyle exhaled brusquely, causing Ike, who was sitting in front of him to raise his eyebrow.

_Kyle: No, thank you._

He sent it and stared at his corn flakes growing soggy in the milk. He picked up his phone and looked for yesterday’s conversation.

_Kyle: Want a ride to school?_

Kyle sent it to Craig and anxiously waited for an answer. It doesn’t take long for one to pop up.

_Craig: Sure_

 

* * *

 

When Kyle arrived to pick up Craig, he was standing outside his door wearing his usual blue jacket, but nothing on his head. Kyle couldn't remember the last time he saw Craig hatless, but as he entered the car, Kyle decided not to comment on it.

“Hey,” Craig greeted and quickly fastened his seat belt.

Kyle greeted him and immediately started driving. “So, still giving your friends the silent treatment?”

“Token and Clyde are assholes,” Craig answered. “I don’t need their nagging.”

He nodded. “What about Tweek?” Craig looked at him and Kyle tried his hardest not to look at him back. His eyes were fixed on the road, both hands firm on the wheel.

“Tweek would be a hypocrite if he said anything,” Craig replied. “He’s addicted to coffee.”

“You’re right.”

They didn't say much more until they arrived at school. Kyle somehow felt Craig was waiting for him to say something, but he didn't dare. He parked as usual and got his backpack from the back sit.

“See you later?” Craig asked with a smirk on his face, it made Kyle blush as he nodded.

 

* * *

 

Before class, Kyle met Stan and Kenny by their lockers. He greeted them and immediately noticed Kenny looking incredibly tired. He left way before midnight, so staying up at Kyle’s place wasn’t the reason for the bags under his eyes.

“Dude, what the hell happened to you?” Kyle asked, pointing at Kenny’s eyes.

“That’s what I keep asking,” Stan intervened. “He was fuzzing over you not getting enough sleep and look at him now. If you were still sick, you shouldn't have come at all.”

“It’s nothing guys,” Kenny complained. “You don’t have to worry. And it was you fuzzing, Stan.”

“Did you not go home after you left my place last night?”

“Kenny was at your place last night?” Stan asked with a peppy smile Kyle didn't really understand.

“Just chatted a bit,” Kenny answered. “Look, I couldn’t sleep last night. Just one of those night, happens to all of us.”

“It happens to you more often lately,” Stan commented.

“Are you still feeling sick?” Kyle added.

“Guys, really. Don’t worry, I’ll get some sleep earlier today.”

“Fine, but I hope you’re not running around with a shady vigilante at night,” Stan mentioned and it irked Kyle.

“Seriously man, you’re bringing that up again?”

“Look, I’m happy you worry about me and all that, but you don’t have to. Now don’t start that shit up again and go to class.” There was a seriousness in his voice that caught Kyle off guard, he noticed Stan felt it too.

They both nodded and left for their respective classes.

 

* * *

 

Classes went by slowly. When it was finally lunch time, Kyle debated whether to sit with Stan and Kenny or Craig. The latter was sitting alone in the same table as yesterday. He wondered if Craig would go out for a smoke today as well and if he should join him.

As he ate his lunch quietly, listening to Kenny and Stan talked about god knows what, Kyle shared small glances with Craig, most of them followed by a smirk.

“You know, you two can just stop making googly eyes at each other and sit together,” Kenny unexpectedly commented, catching Kyle’s attention. He went red.

“What are you talking about Ken?” Stan asked, suspicion in his eyes. “Who are you making googly eyes at?”

Kyle didn't say anything, but unconsciously looked over at Craig who was giving him a smirk.

“Seriously? Craig?” Stan didn't look amused.

“They are not googly eyes,” Kyle protested to no avail.

“Eye sex, whatever,” Kenny corrected. “Just go sit with him, maybe he will invite you to make out with him some more.” The last part was said softly, so only they could listen.

“To what?!” Stan said it so loudly, many eyes looked over at them.

“Shhhh…. Don’t announce it to everyone.” Kyle felt like burning up, Kenny and his big mouth.

“What the hell? You made out with Craig,” Stan whispered this time.

“Just for a bit,” Kyle responded shyly.

“Dude!!”

“Leave him alone Stanny,” Kenny said, sending a big smile Kyle’s way. “Go, I know you want to.”

Kyle slowly got up from his sit and before he turned around, he noticed Stan giving Kenny the nastiest glare.

He walked until he reached Craig’s table, where he stopped and smiled. “Hey.”

Craig’s smirk didn’t leave his face. “Wanna go for a smoke?”

As they left, Kyle noticed not only Stan looking at them weirdly, but also Clyde, Token and Tweek.

 

* * *

 

Craig took him to the same place as before. He didn't immediately pull out a cigarrate. This time he sat on the steps that lead to the door. Kyle joined him, but didn't look at him. He felt extremely nervous.

“It’s different, kissing a girl than a guy,” Kyle sort of blurted out. He looked to the opposite side of Craig out of embarrassment.

“Is it now?”

“Well yeah, but…” Kyle started getting even more nervous now. “Maybe it had something to do with the person kissing.” Kyle peeked and saw Craig giving him a very endearing smile. “I mean, like those girls I kissed before where not very good and…”

“I was awesome?”

Kyle laughed nervously. “You weren’t 8,” he teased. The nervousness started dissipating a bit.

“I’m guessing that means you don’t want a second round,” Craig said and even with that sly smile, Kyle noticed a tint of redness on his cheeks.

Seeing that Craig was also flustered, gave Kyle a bit of courage. He leaned closer and pressed their lips together. His heartbeat was going crazy and Kyle wondered if Craig felt it.

Craig deepened the kiss, gently placing a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. He didn't taste like cigarettes like the previous day, which Kyle prefered. It was still all very intoxicating, the way their lips moved against each other, how Craig gently squeezed his shoulder. Kyle didn't even know what to do with his hands, they just stayed there against his lap awkwardly.

They both pulled away and looked at each other. Kyle was less nervous now, although he felt a bit embarrassed. Was he even good at it?

“I never expected you to do that,” Craig commented, that smirk back on his face.

“Me neither,” Kyle confessed.

“Look, I know you have a thing for Stan,” Craig began saying, he seemed anxious. Kyle placed his hand on Craig’s knee. It appeared to calm him a bit. “This thing we have going, it’s not bad.”

Kyle chuckled. “Not bad, I’m intrigued,” he teased.

“You know what I mean.”

“Kenny says I should try dating, you know, to help me get over Stan,” Kyle told him, unknowingly squeezing Craig’s knee. “I thought it wasn’t fair for the person.”

“I don’t mind,” Craig said. “I mean I- Tweek…”

“I know,” Kyle intervened, guessing it was hard for Craig to say it out loud.

They looked at each other in silence for a while. “Maybe we should try. I mean, we both know about each other.”

Kyle smiled, it was incredibly strange to hear and see Craig like this, all soft words stumbling out of his mouth and uneasy eyes. Looking at him like that, he saw what Kenny meant. Craig was actually very attractive. “I think that’s a good idea,” he finally said.

Craig kissed him again, it’s very soft and quick.

“I told Kenny, about yesterday,” Kyle blurted out. It had been nagging him. “I’m sorry, I know no one else knew about you and…”

“It’s okay,” Craig interrupted him. “I mean, he kinda knew anyways. I don’t care that people know, most of them think I’m gay already. It was just fun to not tell Kenny.”

Kyle laughed. “Well good, cause Kenny kinda told Stan.”

“Oh great,” Craig said, covering his face with his hand. “He’s going to want to kick my ass. First his girlfriend, now his super best friend.”

“No way dude,” Kyle chuckled. “I won’t let him.”

Craig placed his hand on top of Kyle’s head. “Sure thing shorty.”

“Hey! Not everyone can have huge monster genes like you!” Kyle exclaimed, crossing his arms. Craig laughed loudly and the small rage that always came when someone called him short dissipated.

 

* * *

 

Biology was their next class and the four of them had it together. Kyle and Craig walked to it together. They kissed until the bell rang and it was the nicest Kyle had felt in a long time.

They arrived at the classroom, Kenny and Stan were already there. Both boys looked at them as soon as they crossed the door. Kenny was smiling softly and Stan’s eyebrow was raised.

“So, how did lunch go?” Kenny asked as soon as they sit down.

“Fine,” Kyle answered.

“You two lovebirds had fun?” Kenny wiggled his eyebrows.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Kenny, please.”

“Fine…” Kenny drawled.

They were silent for a while, just sitting and waiting for their teacher to arrive. Craig was sitting next to him and Kyle was trying hard not to look at him. Kenny, who was in front of Craig, kept looking at them with a dirty smile and occasionally wiggled his eyebrows. Stan was absorbed by his phone, chatting with Wendy probably.

“So are you two going to be a thing now?” Stan abruptly inquired, placing his phone down. He didn't look impressed.

“Umm… Well, we’re going to try dating,” Kyle replied nervously. He gazed over at Craig, who was looking at Stan.

Stan was staring daggers at Craig. “You know, you could have told me Kyle. That you are gay, not just drop something like this out of nowhere.”

Shit. Now that he thought about it, he had never even insinuated he might be interested in the same sex to Stan. “I’m sorry…”

“Stan, don’t be like that,” Kenny warned, his smile completely gone from his face.

“Be like what? He told you, didn’t he? He tells you everything now,” Stan stated. “You’ve been so different the past few weeks, I don’t think I even know you anymore.”

“What?” Kyle felt his rage building up. “I’m the one who’s different? Dude, have you seen yourself? You barely hang with us anymore and when you do show up, you text Wendy the whole time.”

“Wendy’s my girlfriend.”

“I know, you make that pretty clear.”

“Guys, please,” Kenny tried to intervene.

“You say I’m not there anymore, but what about the other night when you-” Stan stopped and looked at Craig. At least he had the decency to not mention Mysterion right now. “Never mind…”

“Stan, you’re an asshole, you know that right?” Kyle felt abubble of anger burn in the pit of his stomach. Stan had really been testing his patience lately.

“Yeah, I’m the asshole. I’m the one doing dangerous, illogical things...” So it was still about Mysterion.

“What I decide to do is really none of your business,” Kyle protested. “It has never been your business and if you wanted it to be, maybe you should start taking other people’s feelings into account. But no, you can’t see what’s right in front of your nose.”

Kyle knew he was essentially giving himself away, but he didn’t think Stan would notice.

“I’m the one who doesn’t see what’s in front of my nose? Are you kidding?” Stan grimaced. What the hell was that supposed to mean? “And I’m the asshole.”

“Stan, stop!” Kenny rarely raised his voice like that. Everyone in class was looking at them now. “Just shut up, both of you.”

They both sat back on their chair avoiding everyone’s gaze. The teacher arrived soon after and the lecture distracted them all from what just happened. Kyle looked over at Craig and the latter gave him a small smile of reassurance.

In their next classes, Kyle and Stan avoided each other completely. It was bizarre, they loved having the same schedule. Kyle just wanted to punch Stan in the face for being such a jerk. It wasn’t the first time they had a fight, they’ve had their fair share of disagreements over the many years they had been friends. They would eventually bounce back into normal, Kyle hoped.

After class, the three of them met up in the lockers as always.

“You guys kiss and make up yet?” Kenny probed, leaning against the lockers while watching them both put their books away.

“Kenny, how are you okay with this?” Stan asked, closing his locker door harshly.

Kyle almost missed the look Kenny gave Stan, it gave him chills. Were those two hiding something?

“I’m willing to let it go if Stan stops being such a jerk about Mysterion and Craig,” Kyle said and afterwards, he remembered his small suspicion that Craig and Mysterion might be the same person. It was probably smarter not to mention that now.

“Fine,” Stan concured. “I’ll play nice.”

Kyle smiled. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about you know, being gay. I’m still trying to figure that out and I don’t feel comfortable labeling myself that way yet.”

Kenny grabbed them both into a group a hug and smiled fondly. “Aww you guys, so adorable. Don’t fight like that anymore daddies.”

“Don’t ever say that again,” Stan snarled.

“It’s fucked up,” Kyle added.

Kyle noticed Craig approach them slowly and broke the group hug. “Ready to go?

Craig nodded and glanced over at Stan. They didn't say anything to each other and Kyle was a tad proud that Stan managed to contain whatever he clearly wanted to say.

“Well then, see you guys later,” Kyle uttered and both of his friends said their goodbyes as he and Craig walked side by side towards the door.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, this took way too long to write. I had this impromptu mini vacation that I had not prepared for and then so much work to catch up to afterwards. I know, so many excuses, but I promise I’ll finish this story. I’m too invested in this not to.  
> I know I could have done better, but I’ve just been frustrated with work and people in general. I hope I conveyed some of the important things. I know Stan was an asshole, but hopefully, I showed that the real reason is because he wants Kenny and Kyle to be together. Kenny is just a doll, I love him so much. My Craig is different than the usual Craigs, I hope you all like him. I just have this really sweet Craig in my mind that he tries to mask with coolness and whatever. I think it sort of shows in the series, but that might just be me.  
> Thank you all for those beautiful comments. Sometimes I think I might actually cry cause you’re all so kind. Seriously, you cheer me up like you have no idea. They are guaranteed to turn up my shitty days. Also, thanks for the kudos. I appreciate every single one of you.  
> I also forgot to mention that I got a new drawing tablet, kind of taking some of my writing time. But I’ve been thinking of doing some art for the fic and adding it around. If that’s something you would like to see, let me know.  
> Okay then, I talk too much, I know. Sorry, if you made up to here, extra cookies for you.
> 
> Update 10/21/17: The short version for those who just finished reading and don't want to read what is probably gonna be a long note explaining everything. YES! This is going to be updated, I'm not done with this.  
> Now if you care to hear my explanation. A few factors went into why I stopped updating, the first one was I concentrated a lot in my digital art and started streaming it. I still knew that I wanted to keep updating this, but since I couldn't dedicate as much time as I used to, I decided to take a small break from constant updating and write everything up. I don't know if it happens to other writers, but if I'm not constantly writing about something, I forget important details and then just contradict everything I wrote in an older chapter. So my plan was to write everything down without proofreading it, just go crazy with it. Then I could proofread evert 2 weeks and update in that scheduele. That was going perfectly if it wasn't for that fact that a month into it, when I had a few chapters like ready to be uploaded and most of the story completely written, my laptop died. Like kicked the bucket, don't wanna love you anymore dead. It took me a month or so to get a new laptop and I just couldn't write again everything. So I kept saying to myself "I'll wait until I can get all the info out of my old drive to update". Needless to say, that hasn't happened yet. Its probably never gonna happen cause I'm lazy and my friend, who used to do those kinds of computer favors to me, and I are no longer in friendly terms.  
> I kind of forgot about it for a while, but in the past maybe month or so, I started getting so many nice and positive comments on this story that I just had to continue writing, even if it meant rewriting everything. I'm just finishing rereading everything, to familiarize myself with the story again and remember as much as I can about it. I don't know if I'm going to go with my old plan of writing everything and then update it, but most likely now. I'll hopefully have at least one or two chapters ready before the year ends with how much work I have to do, but I'm not abandoning this.  
> Also, playing The Fractured But Whole gave me new motivation. If you read until this point let me know on the comments. I've had this idea going around of gifting sketches to readers randomly, every chapter putting a condition on who wins. Sometimes there might be multiple winners. Nothing too fancy, you just tell me a character you want drawn and I'll do a quick digital sketch of him, most likely just a portrait.  
> In this case, if you read up to hear say after your regular comment (if you wanna say something, not forcing you here) sup, I like (insert character you want drawn) and you can find me here (I don't know if you wanna leave me your tumble, twitter or instagram name). That's it! Well then, I'll stop my long ass note.


	8. Capturing Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You okay?” Craig asked, eyes glued to the window.  
> “No,” he answered. “Fucking Stan Marsh.”  
> Craig looked over at him, no expression on his face. “I really don’t know what you see in the guy.”  
> The comment made Kyle blush. “Shut up.”  
> “Just saying,” Craig said with a smirk. “He’s very dramatic.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to Kyle that Stan was always irrational about pretty much anything he didn’t understand. And what Stan Marsh didn’t understand was quite a wide spectrum. Kyle just wished that sometimes, Stan would stop for a second and take into account his best friend’s feelings.

Kyle drove out of school; Craig was on his passenger sit very silent. He was irritated by Stan’s stupidity and unnecessary confrontations. His hands were gripped tight on the wheel as he came to a red light.

“You okay?” Craig asked, eyes glued to the window.

“No,” he answered. “Fucking Stan Marsh.”

Craig looked over at him, no expression on his face. “I really don’t know what you see in the guy.”

The comment made Kyle blush. “Shut up.”

“Just saying,” Craig said with a smirk. “He’s very dramatic.”

Kyle didn’t say anything as he continued driving. He was right, Stan was a complete drama queen, and he had been like that ever since they were kid. It used to annoy him way more when they were younger, he had gotten used to it now. Kind of, if today’s “incident” said anything.

“You don’t have to take me home you know,” Craig interrupted his thoughts. “We can hang out if you want.”

“Oh,” Kyle stopped the car on the side of the road. He hadn’t even thought about that. “Really?” Kyle didn’t want to overthink it too much, but it was hard not to. Everything was going at a weird pace between the two of them.

Craig still had that smirk on his face. “I have to drop my keys at Tweek Bros. for the new waiter, but after that I’m free.”

“Why didn’t you just give them to him at school?”

“If he’s gonna side with those two assholes, then fuck him,” Craig replied, the smirk was gone and he was back to looking out the window. Tweek was such a sensitive subject to him, Kyle wasn’t sure if he should ever mention him at all.

“Are you okay with seeing him now then?” Kyle asked.

“No, that’s why you’re going to give him the keys.”

“ME?!”

“Please…” Craig said it so softly, Kyle wasn’t sure he heard him correctly. By the pink blush on his cheeks, it was safe to say he indeed said that. Kyle never thought he would hear Craig Tucker plead.

“Fine,” Kyle agreed and drove off to the coffeehouse. He wasn’t 100% comfortable with this, but something about Craig’s face just made him want to do it.

 

* * *

 

When they arrived at Tweek Bros., Craig stayed in the car while Kyle headed inside to return the keys. It looked less busy than the last time he was there, but there was quite a few more tables filled than usual. Kyle immediately spotted Tweek behind the counter. The blonde was holding an iPad in his hands and was completely concentrated in whatever he was doing there.

Before he approached him, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

_Craig: Tell him im still willing to take a shift if needed_

Kyle rolled his eyes. He should have come himself. Why did he always get caught up in weird shit?

_Kyle: Are you sure you don’t want to do this?_

_Kyle: What if he asks why I’m returning them instead of you?_

_Craig: Just tell him I asked you for the favor_

_Kyle: Fine_

“Kyle?” He heard Tweek say.

He placed his phone back in his pocket and walked over to the counter. “Hey, Craig wanted me to give you this.”

Tweek looked confused as he received the keys. Kyle felt the questions coming. “Oh, is he alright?”

“Umm… Yeah,” Kyle answered and looked over outside, where his car was parked. He saw Craig inside, using his phone.

“Why didn’t he come himself?” Tweek asked and Kyle noticed he also saw Craig inside the car. Did he seem upset? Kyle rarely saw him upset; at least he hadn’t since they were kids.

“I’m not sure, but he also wanted me to tell you that if you need him to do a shift, he’s willing to do it.”

His brows furrowed still looking at Kyle’s car. “F-fine!” Tweek shrieked and all the calmness he once had was gone. It surprised Kyle, he had been so mellow this past few years. Now that he thought about it, maybe Craig was the cause of that.

“Well, I better get going,” he said and was ready to say his goodbyes, but Tweek interrupted him.

“Are… Are you two dating?” He was chewing his bottom lip anxiously, completely avoiding looking at Kyle in the eyes.

They hadn’t really talked about it using the word ‘dating’, but they had said they were going to give each other a chance. “I mean, we haven’t actually gone out on a date or anything, but…”

Tweek smacked the keys against the counter. “He doesn’t tell me anything anymore.” It was more of a whisper, but Kyle almost heard the resentment in that statement.

Kyle suddenly had the small suspicion that Tweek might return Craig’s feelings.

“W-whatever, if he doesn’t want to be best friends anymore…. Tell him, tell him I don’t need his help anymore,” Tweek said and walked through the kitchen door without saying goodbye.

Reluctantly, he walked back to the car and got inside.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Craig asked.

“Are you sure you two weren’t like really dating or something like that?” Kyle asked, fastening his seatbelt.

“I am, why?” Craig was looking at him intensely. Why were his eyes so damn dark? The way they scrutinized his face was unsettling.

“I think he might be totally jealous that you and I are hanging out,” he answered.

Craig grunted. “No, he’s not.”

“And you say that because…”

“That would mean he’s interested in me, which he isn’t.”

“And you know that for sure? He raged at me over there, he looked jealous as fuck.” Was Craig really that dense?

Craig grunted again and crossed his arms. “You can take me home now.” Yes, definitely Tweek was a sore subject that he should avoid at all costs.

Kyle sighed. “I will, but you can tell me, you know?” It’s farfetched, but Kyle really wished Craig would open up to him. He genuinely liked him, more than he thought he would at first. There was just something refreshing about talking to Craig.

The car was silent; Craig stared outside looking like he had no intention to talk. Kyle turned on the engine and drove. They drove in silence all the way to Craig’s house.

“Want me to pick you up tomorrow too?” Kyle asked.

Craig wasn’t saying anything, but he also didn’t seem eager to walk out of the car.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Kyle apologized. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“He rejected me,” Craig muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

“What?”

“It was less than a month ago at Token’s,” Craig explained. “We had been drinking and I told him…”

There was silence. “You told him that you liked him?” Kyle asked. That he didn’t expect, so maybe Craig wasn’t dense after all. It sucked though; Kyle sort of knew how he felt. Except, of course, he would never have the balls to tell Stan his feelings.

“I-I told him he was beautiful,” Craig confessed and went red.

“Oh, wow.” That was very direct.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly. He got nervous, but its Tweek, he’s always on the edge. Then I…” he paused again. This time Kyle didn’t say anything, just placed a hand on his arm trying to encourage him. “I tried to kiss him, but he pushed me away and ran.”

“I’m sorry dude.”

“That’s not even what the fucked me up. I knew I came on too strong and I regret that. Next day, he started acting like nothing had ever happened,” Craig told him. “And it pissed me off. We haven’t exactly been the same after that.”

Kyle had many thoughts about that, but he decided not to voice them since they were probably going to upset Craig even more at the moment. He just squeezed his arm harder as a sign of comfort.

“You can come in if you want,” Craig suddenly said. “My parents aren’t home at this time and my sister is in an after school club or something like that.”

It made him a little nervous to be with Craig alone at his house, but he nodded anyways.

 

* * *

 

Craig shared his lunch with him and they ate in silence for the most part. Kyle couldn’t remember if he had ever been at his house before, maybe when they were younger. It didn’t look very different from his own place. Most of South Park residents seemed to have the same style of decoration. Except Token’s parents, but that’s cause they lived in a huge mansion.

After they finished, Craig led him to his room. Kyle was surprised by the decoration. It was filled with space posters. He remembered younger Craig being really into space and that hadn’t changed apparently. There was a huge cork board in the wall were his bed was against filled with what seemed like hundreds of photographs. The variety was impressive; it ranged from guinea pigs to Clyde putting on shoes at Token’s place. There were a lot of his friends pictures, Clyde, Token, Jimmy and even Kenny, but Kyle noticed Tweek was predominant. Not that it was surprising.

Kyle noticed an empty cage on his desk, next to his computer. That wasn’t what caught his attention the most though; it was the portrait next to it. It contained a photograph of Craig and Tweek and they both look flustered, but incredibly happy. He didn’t dare ask why that picture was there or what made it more special, but Kyle bet it was the only picture they had together.

“Stripe #4 died and I never got a new one,” Craig explained, completely ignoring the fact that Kyle was actually starring at the photograph and not at the cage. He had a feeling it was on purpose.

“Why?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t think Tweek could handle the death of another guinea pig,” he answered. “I can’t get rid of his cage though; at least I can pretend I still have a pet sometimes.”

Kyle didn’t say anything about that either. Craig was very weird with his emotions and he was very glad about how open he was being right now. He had also resolved on not mentioning Tweek at all, even if Craig did. It was kind of depressing seeing that empty cage; he remembered how much Craig loved Stripe when they were younger. Of course, he always thought it was just one guinea pig, not multiple.

Craig placed his bag over his computer’s chair and walked over to Kyle. “Thank you for putting up with me,” he said, placing a hand over Kyle’s cheek.

“That’s two things now,” Kyle joked. At Craig’s confused face, he smiled and explained. “I never thought I’d hear Craig Tucker ask for a favor or thank me.”

Craig smiled and pressed his lips against Kyle’s. “You caught me in a weird day, it’s never happening again.”

“So, you are really into photography?” Kyle asked, going back to the bed and looking at the corkboard. He admitted to himself that he was nervous; the privacy of the bedroom was way more intimidating than he expected.

“I guess…”

Kyle continued to detail the photographs when he heard rustling from behind. He turned around and was faced with a camera lens, followed by a loud click. “What the fuck dude?”

Craig looked at him smiling from behind the camera. Kyle didn’t know much about cameras, but his looked heavy and expensive. “You better get used to that,” Craig commented, looking at the display. “That’s pretty cute.”

“Fuck off,” Kyle muttered, blushing madly. He hated getting his picture taken.

“Why? You are natural,” Craig said with a smirk. He pulled out what Kyle assumed was the memory card from the camera. Craig placed the camera on his desk and put the SD inside the slot on the printer Kyle just noticed existed.

Kyle approached him to see what the hell he was doing. He was messing with a bunch of buttons until the printer started making beeping noises and then finally started printing. “The hell dude?”

“You’re going to be part of the collection,” Craig said, a smile gracing his face. He grabbed the printed picture and held it up. “Perfect.”

In the picture, Kyle looked confused, but there was something about it that made it different. “Are you really putting it up?”

Craig didn’t say anything; he just grabbed a few pushpins from his desk and crawled on his bed. “What do you think?”

Kyle watched him pin down the photograph in an empty spot and then look incredibly satisfied by it. He turned around and sat on his bed. “I’d heard you were into photography, but this is kinda unexpected.”

“I’m not into taking photographs of social events or whatever Token and Jimmy are always trying to get me to do for the newspaper,” he explained. “I like capturing moments.”

“That’s surprisingly deep,” Kyle commented with a smile, sitting in the edge of the bed. “So all of these are spontaneous?”

“Mainly,” Craig explained, looking back at his board.

“That explains why there are no pictures of you,” Kyle commented and his eyes drifted back to the portrait on his desk. “How about that one?”

“That’s Token’s,” Craig replied softly. “He was the one who gifted me the camera, so he borrows it whenever he wants.”

“He took it without you knowing, I can tell.” There was a sly smile in his face when he said it.

“Hey,” Craig called, making Kyle look back at him. “Come closer.”

Kyle scooted a bit closer to him and before he could even attempt to say anything, Craig pulled him into a kiss. It was soft and gentle, it was easy to let himself be consumed by it and forget everything. Kyle had never been the kind of person that believed in letting himself be absorbed by a relationship, but in that moment he felt like he could drop everything just to be with Craig.

 

* * *

 

Kyle left Craig’s house before his family arrived. There was a smile on his face as he drove home. They made out for a while and time passed flying. It was all very weird, because he knew he didn’t really have romantic feelings for Craig. Kyle just felt very comfortable around him, like he could be himself.

With his friends, it wasn’t exactly that he couldn’t be himself. Being around Stan was very uncomfortable most of the times. He started overthinking just about everything, feeling like he was going to expose his feelings any time. Kenny was different, for some reason he had this weird need to pretend that he was stronger that what he actually was in front of him. There was just a raw need to protect him from everything bad that could happen to him. Kyle guessed it rooted from everything that happened with Carol. He wanted Kenny to be happy and not burden him with any of his own troubles.

Now Craig, there was nothing that impeded Kyle from showing every emotion, saying everything that was on his mind and acting however he wanted to at the moment.

It was only 6 pm, which was why he was surprised when he walked into his room and found Mysterion sitting on his windowsill. The vigilante didn’t move, didn’t even seem to react to Kyle being back. He walked closer and upon further inspection, he noticed Mysterion was actually asleep. A lot went through Kyle’s mind at that moment.

What was he doing there so early? How careless was he to fall asleep at a stranger’s place? And on a window?! He could move and fall over.

Kyle was tempted to try and remove his mask, settle his desperate need to find out his secret identity. He didn’t dare to do it; instead he went back to the door and closed it loudly, effectively waking the vigilante up.

Mysterion looked lost for a few seconds, but then quickly recovered his composure. “Kyle,” he said.

“Falling asleep in someone else’s windowsill is pretty risky, you know that. Right?” Kyle commented as he once again walked into his room.

Kyle couldn’t tell what emotion the vigilante had on his face, but he was almost positive he was embarrassed. “I was just waiting for you to arrive.”

“Sleeping in the dark?”

Mysterion stood up gracefully. “I was not sleeping, I was meditating.”

“Sure,” Kyle drawled. It was kind of adorable that Mysterion believed he could fool Kyle. Adorable though, what’s not a word he ever thought he would use to describe the vigilante. There was just something about him that was different, like maybe he wasn’t as mysterious as he wanted to be. “Dude, if you’re tired, take a fucking break.”

“We have a lot to discuss,” Mysterion said, ignoring Kyle completely.

“If you waited like 4 days, I’m guessing you can wait a few more.” Kyle set his bag on his desk and started pulling books out. “Besides, it’s 6. My parents will come home at any second now and I don’t want them to see you.”

“They won’t, I promise.” He sounded confident and Kyle was inclined to believe him. “The recording, do you still have it?”

“Yeah, obviously,” Kyle answered, turning on his computer. “I uploaded it to my computer and tried to clean the audio. It took me a while to get it as clear as possible, so I haven’t had time to analyze it yet.”

Kyle opened up the file and they listened to it together.

“What are they saying?” Mysterion asked.

“I’m not sure, I can research about it right now but,” Kyle looked at his phone. “My parents are going to be here soon and I have to have dinner and…”

“You want to do this after they go to bed?”

“Well yeah, it’s too risky now.”

“Fine, I’ll be back at 12.”

Before Kyle could fully turn around, Mysterion had rushed to the window and jumped off. It was crazy, how did he even do it?

 

* * *

 

Dinner went fine, his parents didn’t ask many questions and Ike wasn’t that much of an asshole. When he went to his room, he found a couple of texts on his phone from Kenny that he quickly answered.

_Kenny: did u n craig get into some sweet love makin??? (¬_ _‿_ _¬)_

_Kenny: naked naked time?_ _ಠ_ _‿↼_

_Kyle: You’re gross Kenny_

_Kenny: give fuel to my fantasies bb (_ _ღ_ _˘_ _⌣_ _˘_ _ღ_ _)_

_Kyle: GROSS!!!_

_Kenny: im obviously joking ky_

_Kenny: maybe not ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

_Kenny: just sayin_

_Kenny: if you wanna share the dirty details im all ears (_ _づ￣_ _³_ _￣_ _)_ _づ_

_Kyle: We just went to do his house and hung out, nothing too special._

_Kenny: did you kiss again C:_

_Kyle: That smiley face creeps me the fuck out. All of them do._

_Kyle: And yes, but that’s none of your business._

_Kenny: fiiiiiiiiine_

_Kenny: (ᵔᴥᵔ)_

Sometimes Kenny was just too much. Also, Kyle should find the time to erase that text face keyboard from his phone. Every time Kenny remembered its existence, it was all he used.

He spent the time until Mysterion returned working on his homework. By the time midnight arrived, he was all done and had even had time to do some research.

“Kyle,” Mysterion said from behind. Kyle spun his chair to greet him, but noticed something odd.

“What’s that on your chest?” he inquired, about a big red stain near his collarbone area.

“Nothing important,” Mysterion replied and walked towards him.

“Is that blood?” Kyle felt sick. Was it Mysterion’s blood? Did he get hurt again?

“No, it’s not mine.”

“Then who’s is it?”

“A guy trying to rob a liquor store,” he answered like it was the most casual thing in the world.

Kyle wasn’t sure how he maintained his composure. “And why is his blood all over your clothes?”

Mysterion rolled his eyes. “Cause I punched him in the nose and the blood got on my shirt.”

“Oh God,” he muttered and stood up to check on him. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, he was an idiot,” he answered.

“How about your chest? Is that still hurting?”

“Umm.. No,” he answered. “Thanks to you.”

Kyle blushed at that, there was warmness to the way Mysterion said it that was unnerving. “I found out what the chant they are saying mean,” Kyle informed, changing the subject.

Mysterion took a sit in the empty chair next to him. “So, what is it?”

He replayed the audio of the chanting, the volume was low, so it didn’t overpower his voice. “In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

“R’lyeh?”

Kyle opened another file in his computer. “The City of R’lyeh, its what I suppose they are referring to. It’s supposed to be like the holy place for cult members,” he explained carefully, looking over at his noted. “There’s a lot of lore about what the city is exactly, but from what I gather, it exists in another dimensions. It’s a lost city, but it can supposedly be accessed through our world.”

Mysterion looked puzzled. “I don’t understand what the point of all of this.”

“I’m not sure; most of the audio is hard to understand. There’s another thing the, I assume, leader said that caught my attention. _That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die_ ,” he read from his notes. “Cthulhu is known as the Great Old One, an immortal creature, so I’m guessing they are referring to him.”

“Immortality you say,” Mysterion muttered.

“Yeah, but if I heard their wording correctly, there might be a way to kill him. I don’t know, it honestly makes no sense with the information we have. Why do they care so much about Cthulhu? It’s not like they’re planning on getting him out of his weird dimension city or going into it for that matter.”

“Maybe they are, but you’re right,” Mysterion said. Kyle looked at him, not sure about what part of what he said is right. “It makes no sense with the information we have, we need more.”

“Well yeah, but I’m pretty sure they must have a new meeting spot now after what happened,” Kyle told him. “And they’re probably not going to give out their location as easily as before.”

Mysterion stood up and chewed on his thumb. “So, we don’t look for the new members, we look for the old ones.”

Kyle gasped. “You’re right! The list, we have a few possible ex-members. They must know at least some of what they are doing right now.”

“Diane Torrance, she’s probably our best bet.”

“I have all her information, she lives still lives in South Park. We can drive there and talk to her, get all th-“

“No Kyle,” Mysterion interrupted him abruptly. “I’m doing this myself; you’ve already gotten more involved than I ever wanted you to.”

“Come on! I know way more about all of this than you; it’s just talking to a woman. What harm can that do?” Kyle whined, his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

“What if the new cult members are looking after the old ones? How are we even sure this woman is an ex-member? They’ve already seen your face once; we don’t need to give them a change to harm you.”

“You can’t just drop there on your superhero outfit and expect someone to answer all your questions,” Kyle countered. “You’ll scare the living shit out of her.”

“And what do you propose?” Mysterion questioned, he seemed so upset at the fact that Kyle was even considering it. “Scaring the living shit out of her might just be the strategy we need.”

“You’ll stay behind the scenes, I’ll pose as a student working on a case about cult activities in Park County,” Kyle proposed, proud of his idea.

“You’re not going in there alone,” Mysterion protested.

“It’s just an older woman, what can she possible do to me?”

“I have a long list on that.”

“Ugh, well, are you planning to ditch your cape and come in as a normal person? Cause I’m sure she’s not going to want to talk to us when you look like that.” Kyle was a stubborn person, if Mysterion didn’t know that about him then he didn’t know him as well as he thought.

Mysterion paced around the room, still chewing at his gloved thumb. “So you expect me to just stay outside and wait without knowing if you were hurt the moment you stepped inside?”

“Well no, we can figure something out.” There were many ways they could communicate with each other. “Just give me a few days and I’ll figure everything out.”

“Fine,” Mysterion said in defeat. “But if I don’t like it, then we won’t do anything.”

“Dude, what’s the point of me even researching all of this? There’s something you’re not telling me and its starting to piss me off.” So he wasn’t super upset about it, but things were getting very odd with the research.

“Kyle, I can’t tell you that,” he said, looking everywhere but at him.

“You say you trust me, so why not? Why can’t you even tell me who you are?”

Mysterion sighted and sat back on the extra chair. He looked directly into Kyle’s eyes. “You’ll be even more pissed off if I tell you who I am.”

“Can’t I decide that for myself?” Kyle persisted, not fearing looking into Mysterion’s face.

“It’s safer that you don’t know anyways,” Mysterion said, looking away.

“Safer? Really?”

“For both of us,” he finished and stood up again.

“Can I at least know why the hell we’re investigating this cult?”

“I think my parents were involved with it,” Mysterion answered, surprising Kyle. He thought he would completely dodge the subject. “And something they did there affected a big part of my life.” As he said that, he walked over to the window.

“Affect you how?” Kyle asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Mysterion answered with a smirk and jumped off the window.

Kyle was definitely never going to get used to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I was gonna update this before the year was over and I DID IT! I’m super proud cause I struggled so much writing this and I am not super in love with it, but I did it. That’s what matters.  
> I’ve gotten so much amazing support on this story I just couldn’t abandon it and I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read and leave kudos and comments. Y’all are amazing and I love you.  
> I’m pretty sure not a lot of people read my long as rant in the last chapter, but I’m basically rewarding people who read my ranty author’s notes with cute little portraits of south park characters like the one I have as my avatar. Every chapter there’s a new condition as to how to get one and obviously, with every new chapter, the past one is no longer valid. Since I’m so happy I finally finished this chapter and I’m updating, it’s gonna be easy. So you can either comment whatever you want to comment (if you’re the commenter type) and leave the code word + what character from South Park you want me to draw for you or you can just leave the code word and the character by itself. I’ll count them all and I’ll comment back when I have your cute little portrait ready with the link to it. That way I’m gifting you guys something and I get some warm-up drawings done. WE ALL WIN!! Code word is not actually a word, but Kenny’s favorite text face in my story (ᵔᴥᵔ).


End file.
